adj · name · noun · verb · 9 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
/ˈlæŋk/without æ-raising
[ˈlæŋk]without æ-raising
Southern-England:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
Canada, US:/ˈleɪ̯ŋk/
Canada, US:[ˈleɪ̯ŋk] ~ /ˈlɛ̃ŋk/
Canada, US:[ˈlɛ̃ŋk]
rhymes with -æŋk
CMU ARPABET:L AE1 NG K
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Slender or thin; not well filled out; not plump; shrunken; lean.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1700, Isaac Barrow, Sermon XXII “Of Industry in our particular Calling, as Scholars,” in The Works of the Learned Isaac Barrow, D.D., London: John Tillotson, 2nd edition, Volume III, p. 226, [...] who would not chuse [...] to have rather a lank purse than an empty brain [...] ?
1724-5, Jonathan Swift, “A Receipt. To Restore Stella’s Youth” in The Works of Jonathan Swift, London: Henry Washbourne, 1841, Volume 1, p. 687, Meagre and lank with fasting grown, And nothing left but skin and bone;
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Meagre, paltry, scant in quantity.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
Examples
1659, Samuel Cradock, Knowledge & Practice, Or, A Plain Discourse of the Chief Things Necessary to be Known, Believ’d & Practised in order to Salvation, London: John Rothwell, Chapter 17, Of the Duties of the Rich, pp. 494-495, We should think him a very imprudent Husbandman, that to save a little seed at present, would sow so thin, as to spoil his crop. And the same folly ’twill be in us, if by the sparingness and niggardize of our Almes, we make our selves a lank Harvest hereafter, and lose the reward God hath provided for the liberal Almes-giver.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Straight and flat; thin and limp. (Often associated with being greasy.)
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Examples
1695, John Stevens (translator), The Portugues Asia; or, The History of the Discovery and Conquest of India by the Portugues, by Manuel de Faria e Sousa, London: C. Brome, Chapter 10, p. 291, The Inhabitants most simple, and treated them with great affection. Of Colour more inclined to white, of Body strong and comly, lank Hair, and long Beards, their Cloaths of very fine Mats [...]
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Languid; drooping, slack.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: obsolete
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
name
Meaning 5
A surname.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
6
noun
Meaning 6
A clump of lank hair.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
7
verb
Meaning 7
To become lank.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: intransitive, rare
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
8
adjective satellite
Meaning 8
long and lean
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: spindly
Antonyms: none provided
9
adjective satellite
Meaning 9
long and thin and often limp
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
grown lank with fasting
lank mousy hair
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
Etymology
From Middle English lank, from Old English hlanc, from Proto-West Germanic *hlank, from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“lank, thin”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend, turn, wind, twist”); compare German lenken (“to turn”), Gelenk (“joint”), Old High German hlanca (“hip, side, flank”), and English link (of a chain).
Across languages
Translations
19 source translations are retained for this English entry.
Afrikaans:
slank
— slender and thin
Bulgarian:
слаб и висок
— slender and thin
Czech:
hubený
— slender and thin
Czech:
vyhublý
— slender and thin
Czech:
vyzáblý
— slender and thin
Finnish:
laiha
— slender and thin
Finnish:
hintelä
— slender and thin
Hungarian:
vézna
— slender and thin
Occitan:
delgat
— slender and thin
Persian:
لندوک
(landuk)
— slender and thin
Spanish:
delgado
— slender and thin
Spanish:
flaco
— slender and thin
Bulgarian:
права
(prava)
— of hair straight and flat
Czech:
zplihlý
— of hair straight and flat
French:
plats
— of hair straight and flat
Māori:
tākaha
— of hair straight and flat
Māori:
mahora
— of hair straight and flat
Māori:
torokaka
— of hair straight and flat
Māori:
torokaka waero-kiore
— of hair straight and flat
