gangly
/ˈɡæŋɡli/
gangly adjective: tall and thin, especially so as to cause physical awkwardness.
Adjective
gangly (comparative ganglier, superlative gangliest)
- Tall and thin, especially so as to cause physical awkwardness.
- I should have shot that long gangly lubber they called Hank, if I could have done it without crippling six or seven other people—but of course I couldn't, […]1870–1871 (date written), Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter VII, in Roughing It, Hartford, Conn.: American Publishing Company [et al.], published 1872, →OCLC, page 61
- A rangy, gangly, Scandinavian youth of a sailor, droop-shouldered, six feet six and slender as a lath, with pallid eyes of palest blue and skin and hair attuned to the same colour scheme, joined Kwaque in his work.1917, Jack London, chapter XV, in Michael, Brother of Jerry
- Synonyms:
- lanky
Examples of gangly in a sentence
- He was a tall, gangly, shy satirist who mumbled to you with his head turned away and always said funny things.1957 September 5, Jack Kerouac, On the Road, New York, N.Y.: Viking Press, →OCLC:
- She was gangly and wild and walked with her wrists turned inside out...1986, John le Carré, A Perfect Spy:
- Individuals of this rabbit species tend to be very large (about the size of a beagle dog); they have long ears and long, gangly legs and a very thin fur coats.2007, Oswald J. Schmitz, Ecology and Ecosystem Conservation, page 34:
Synonyms of gangly
Forms of gangly
| comparative | ganglier |
|---|---|
| superlative | gangliest |
Origin of gangly
An American English alteration of gangling.
Words formed from gangly
Phrases with gangly
Questions about gangly
- What does gangly mean?
- Gangly means tall and thin, especially so as to cause physical awkwardness.
- How do you use gangly in a sentence?
- He was a tall, gangly, shy satirist who mumbled to you with his head turned away and always said funny things.
- What part of speech is gangly?
- Gangly is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce gangly?
- Gangly is pronounced /ˈɡæŋɡli/ (UK).
Words near gangly in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: gangly (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gangly.wav.
Cite this entry: “gangly.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/gangly. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.