Spindly

 
I came across the word spindly - describing someone - the other day and whilst it wasn't an unknown word it did strike me as one of the more amusing words in the English language. I don't know why but it just hit my funny bone.

Spindly means tall, slender and frail; lank; long and lean; charcateristic of a spindle - slender and of weak appearance.

A spindle is a stick or pin used to twist the yarn in spinning.

There is also a Spindle tree (Euonymus europaeus)which is quite spidnly - I wonder if the name came from the tree or vice versa?

The spindle-side of a family tree is the female line of descent and spindle-shank is a term used for someone with long thin legs.