leggy

adjective

leg·​gy ˈle-gē 

 also  ˈlā-

leggier; leggiest

1

a

: having very long legs

In high school in Wareham, Mass., Davis ran track. She was tall, leggy and fast.

—Anamaria Wilson

The best time to view the cranes is 30 minutes before and after sunrise, just before they leave to feed for the morning. The leggy birds generally return to the wildlife area before noon, where they will remain for the rest of the day.

—States News Service

b

: having long and attractive legs

… the person with the answers is a leggy brunette dressed slickly in black.

—Leon Wieseltier

c

: having many legs

Later, when other specialists scoured the same small area in California looking for these millipedes, they came back empty-handed. Part of the problem is that the leggy creatures are hard to see.

—Emily Sohn

2

: having long shoots or stems with little foliage : spindly

Both plants are somewhat leggy and therefore a bit awkward on their own but look just fine in a crowd.

—Tom Peace

Mahonias and nandinas often get leggy and bare at the bottom as they mature.

—Fred C. Galle

Seedlings become "leggy" if they don't get enough light. … The stems will stretch and grow weak if they are too far from the lights.

—Rita Buchanan

—used of a plant

legginess

ˈle-gē-nəs 

 also  ˈlā-

noun

Examples of leggy in a Sentence

The bush has gotten leggy and needs to be pruned.

Recent Examples on the Web

The Chelsea Chop is the practice of cutting back (by one-third to one-half) the new growth of some herbaceous perennials and annuals to keep them from getting too tall or leggy, or to change the flowering and growth characteristics of target plants. —Paul Cappiello, The Courier-Journal, 21 June 2024

Scoring points here—the leggy little black dress outlined with white. —Arthur Elgort, Vogue, 21 June 2024

Even with tables and chairs taking over the floor, though, there may not actually be much less dancing going on, thanks to a cast of about a dozen that is frequently executing some leggy high kicks in the aisles. —Chris Willman, Variety, 16 June 2024

Certain plants, particularly in the brassica family, like cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower germinate fine in warm household temperatures but like to be grown cooler than many of us keep our houses and if left in those warm temperatures grow long and leggy instead of short and stocky. —Dawn Pettinelli, Hartford Courant, 6 Apr. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1776, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

leggy

adjective

leg·​gy ˈleg-ē 

1

: having unusually long legs

2

: having long and attractive legs

3

: spindly

a leggy plant