lanky
Syllables: lank·y/ˈlæŋk.i/US/ˈleɪ̯ŋki/
lanky adjective: tall, slim, and rather ungraceful or awkward.
Adjective (1)
lanky (comparative lankier, superlative lankiest)
- Tall, slim, and rather ungraceful or awkward.
- tall and lanky
- awkwardly lanky
- Synonyms:
- gangly
Proper noun capitalized: Lanky
Lanky
- The dialect of English spoken in Lancashire.
- The rest of us , whether we spoke Lanky or Urdu, whether we were born in Karachi or Keighley, could go to hell.2008 September 4, Stuart Maconie, Pies and Prejudice: In search of the North, Random House, →ISBN, page 167
- The Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway.
- The Lanky was 'The Business Line' – cotton, wool and coal – but a lot of northern towns now had their own 'wakes' or holiday week, and the Lanky was all for that, because then people wanted to pack up, and they wanted to be off.2009 April 2, Andrew Martin, The Blackpool Highflyer, Faber & Faber, →ISBN
- We had an extra pilot [engine] on summer Saturdays for excursion traffic and on this particular day we had a Lanky ' A ' class.2012 July 1, Kenn Pearce, Shed Side in South Lancashire and Cheshire: The Last Days of Steam, The History Press, →ISBN
Noun capitalized: Lanky
Lanky (plural Lankies)
- Someone from Lancashire.
- It is often observed that Lankies (Lancashire folk), on entering a room, whether in the heat of summer or the cold of winter, invariably rush to the fire-place.1878, Henry Mills Alden, Harper's New Monthly Magazine, page 320
- I am what a Yorkshireman would call a 'Lanky', and perhaps as poor a specimen of the cotton county's human produce as ever trounced barefoot through its lanes, or shuddered at the sound of its factory bells.1884, Benjamin Brierley, Tales and Sketches of Lancashire Life, page 25
Adjective (2) capitalized: Lanky
Lanky (not comparable)
- From Lancashire or having distinctive Lancashire traits.
- Despite several stellar features - amongst others Phelps - he was Lanky, too1909, Harry Lindley, Merely Players ..., page 21
- In any case, Butch spoke the Yankee way, not the Lanky way and, no matter where you look, it's not until the football age of industry and terraces that Homo Northwestus gets heroes.1992, Bill T. Jones, Liz Andrew, Homo Northwestus: A Quest for the Species, North-West Man : Based on the Granada Television Series with Ray Gosling
lanky meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
lanky in Tamil
- நீண்டுமெலிந்த, நெட்டையான
lanky in Urdu
- ڈھیلا, دبلا, لاغر
lanky in Malayalam
- slim, tall, thin
- ചടച്ചുനീണ്ട, നീണ്ടുമെലിഞ്ഞ, എല്ലൻകോരിയായ, കോലനായ, കൂരച്ച, കൂരിയായ
lanky in Kannada
- ಉದ್ದವಾಗಿ, ಸಣಕಲಾದ, ಬಡಕಲಾದ, ನರಪೇತಲ
Examples of lanky in a sentence
- The lanky teenager towered over his classmates.
- A lanky cat slinked across the alley.
Synonyms of lanky
Forms of lanky
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | lankier |
| superlative | lankiest |
| Noun | |
| plural | Lankies |
Origin of lanky
From lank + -y.
Clipping of Lancashire with -y.
Words formed from lanky
Words that rhyme with lanky
Questions about lanky
- What does lanky mean?
- Lanky means tall, slim, and rather ungraceful or awkward.
- What is lanky in Tamil?
- Lanky in Tamil is நீண்டுமெலிந்த, நெட்டையான. See Lanky meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use lanky in a sentence?
- The lanky teenager towered over his classmates.
- What part of speech is lanky?
- Lanky can be an adjective, a proper noun or a noun.
- How do you pronounce lanky?
- Lanky is pronounced /ˈlæŋk.i/.
Words near lanky in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: lanky (page history and authors); Lanky (page history and authors); lanky (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lanky (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); lanky (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); lanky (Kannada Wiktionary) (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-lanky.wav.
Cite this entry: “lanky.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/lanky. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.