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

In 2011, the Victoria & Albert museum acquired more than 50 of her fashion drawings, of cool, leggy women in bright dresses, and still lives of colorful hats, shoes and bags. —Samantha Conti, WWD, 20 Feb. 2025

Brands have leggy ladies in mind with wide-leg options with longer inseams for an always on-point fit for the tall set. —Kerry Pieri, Vogue, 12 Feb. 2025

Low-light conditions can cause these plants to become leggy, while too much direct sun can scorch the leaves of sun-sensitive plants. —Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 11 Feb. 2025

In 1987, Sorkin was a regular on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, playing the show’s comic relief: the ditzy, leggy, Noo Yawk–accented Calliope Jones. —Abraham Josephine Riesman, Vulture, 4 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1776, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Rhymes for leggy

• peggy
• regie

Kids Definition

leggy

adjective

leg·​gy ˈleg-ē 

1

: having unusually long legs

2

: having long and attractive legs

3

: spindly

a leggy plant