gangling

G2A1N1G2L1I1N1G2

adjective

Awkwardly tall and thin, ungraceful.

“A gangling teenager.”

Similar
ganglylankyrangytallthinlean
OriginEnglish gang ← Middle English gang ← Old English gang →
Scrabble 11
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Meanings

gangling1

adjectivegangling (comparative more gangling, superlative most gangling)

comparative more gangling · superlative most gangling

  1. Awkwardly tall and thin, ungraceful.

    A gangling teenager.

gangling2

noungangling (plural ganglings)

plural ganglings

  1. nonce wordnonstandardA member of a gang.

    "Well, we'll meet in New York and you can see what's left of me! Bon voyage" the ganglings smirked & just beyond Grand, bang into not — da.

    2007, Edward Estlin Cummings, Eimi

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivetall and thin and having long slender limbs

Similar
ganglylankyrangytall

adjectivetall and thin

Similar
ganglylankythinlean
Also see
carrionganglylankyleanpunyrangyscrawnystorkytallthinweedy

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

gangling · adjective

Perhaps from gangle, from the dialectal gang (“to go, to walk, to proceed”). Compare Swedish gänglig.

Full word history & related roots →

gangling · noun

  1. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰengʰ-
  2. Proto-Indo-European*ǵʰóngʰos
  3. Proto-Germanic*gangaz
  4. Proto-West Germanic*gang
  5. Old Englishgang
  6. Middle Englishgang
  7. Englishgang
  8. Englishgangling

From gang + -ling.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Catalan gànguil
  • gànguilawkwardly tall and thin
Czech vytáhlý, čahounský
  • vytáhlýawkwardly tall and thin
  • čahounskýawkwardly tall and thin
Danish ranglet
  • rangletawkwardly tall and thin
French dégingandé
  • dégingandéawkwardly tall and thin
Greek κρεμανταλάς
  • κρεμανταλάς (kremantalás)awkwardly tall and thin
Hebrew גַּמְלוֹנִי
  • גַּמְלוֹנִי (gamloní)awkwardly tall and thin
Hungarian langaléta, hórihorgas
  • langalétaawkwardly tall and thin
  • hórihorgasawkwardly tall and thin
Icelandic renglulegur
  • renglulegurawkwardly tall and thin
Italian allampanato
  • allampanatoawkwardly tall and thin
Swedish gänglig
  • gängligawkwardly tall and thin
Yiddish לאַנג ווי אַ דראָנג, הויך ווי אַ דראָנג
  • לאַנג ווי אַ דראָנג (lang vi a drong)awkwardly tall and thin
  • הויך ווי אַ דראָנג (hoykh vi a drong)awkwardly tall and thin
Cite this entry
APA

gangling. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gangling

MLA

“gangling.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gangling. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gangling,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gangling.

Source: gangling on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.