Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Tall, thin, and often ungainly. synonym: lean.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Somewhat lank; tending to or characteristic. of lankness or leanness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective Somewhat lank; tall, thin, bony and ungraceful.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective informal Somewhat lank; tall, slim, and rather ungraceful or awkward.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • adjective tall and thin and having long slender limbs
  • adjective tall and thin

Etymologies

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Examples

  • When hit by major recoil I move hardly at all, but Heavey, being tall and lanky, is flung about like a rag doll.

    Why Weight? 2005

  • He\'s been described as lanky and somewhat awkward, but TJ\'s sandy-hair and freckles make him a dreamy, how should I say ... dork.

    Lindsay Mannering: Top 10 Prettiest Presidents: A Slideshow And Poll 2009

  • Though tall, he was too well built to be called lanky, and showed that he possessed both strength and activity.

    The Three Admirals William Henry Giles Kingston 1847

  • For those of you with long memories, you may recall a lanky, genial Australian weatherman turned talk show host named Gordon Elliot.

    Slashfood Nicki Gostin 2010

  • Evan is tall and lanky, which is perfect for the quickstep.

    Television Without Pity Kim 2010

  • For those of you with long memories, you may recall a lanky, genial Australian weatherman turned talk show host named Gordon Elliot.

    Slashfood Nicki Gostin 2010

  • The robber was described as a lanky white man in his 20s or 30s, about 6 feet tall.

    The Daily News Transcript Homepage RSS 2009

  • Yeah, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine was a good pick besides him being tall and kind of lanky, but even that wasn't Singer's first pick for the role.

    Bryan Singer Fancies Another Go At The X-Men And Superman | /Film 2009

  • He is a tall young man, -- "lanky," as she has herself expressed him, -- with thick brown hair, closely cropped.

    Molly Bawn Margaret Wolfe Hamilton

  • Tall people should be slim, otherwise the word 'lanky' is used - and that's not nice.

    unknown title 2009

Comments

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  • First example:

    Tall people should be slim, otherwise the word 'lanky' is used - and that's not nice.

    It seem to contradict the definition for lanky, doesn't it? It makes it sound like "lanky" is a tall person that is not slim.

    June 24, 2010

  • Anybody?

    July 23, 2010

  • Yes, I think it contradicts the meaning. Odd....

    July 23, 2010