lanky frame
1
4.9
- noun
:
cuerpo delgado
- Perhaps I'm tired. "You work too hard," he said, bending his lanky frame over her, resting his hand on the sofa's arm.
- a tall and lanky frame
- a lean and lanky frame
Examples
-
Yellow robe draped over his lanky frame, Bramble sits in the porch swing, sipping bourbon and water, watching stars appear over the bay.
Fiction book (1991) -
Finally, Shana tired of sitting, stood, and stretched her lanky frame.
Fiction book (1993) -
Jacob sat, adjusting the chair to fit his lanky frame.
Fiction book (1995) -
Eli was almost as tall as Joe's own six-foot-three, with a lanky frame that had not yet started to fill out.
Fiction book (2001) -
His lanky frame hadn't thickened under the stresses of higher gravity.
Fiction book (1999) -
She opens the door on her 13-year-old son, Jason; his lanky frame sprawled all over the bed, sleeping with his Walkman.
Fiction book (1993) -
With his lanky frame, he easily reached the top shelf to grab the book.
-
Despite his lanky frame, he was surprisingly agile and could run fast.
-
The child had a lanky frame, which made him look a bit awkward when he danced.
Synonyms
1
7.5
A tall, thin body shape that looks slightly awkward
Antonyms
How Lanky
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a tall and thin body structure' is directly and transparently assembled from 'lanky' (tall and thin, often awkward) modifying 'frame' (structural body), so the combined sense is predictable. The adjective+noun composition is a standard, cross-linguistic pattern in English, meaning a B1 learner who knows both words would readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Lanky frame comes from a simple picture: someone with long, thin limbs that look like a loose wooden frame, and the word lanky points to their long, thin shape. That's why it means 'a tall and thin body that can look awkward'.