Meaning & use
long-limbed
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Meanings
adjectivenot comparable
Having arms and legs that are unusually long in relation to the rest of the body.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb; it has no comparative or superlative forms.
Patterns
- a long-limbed person
- be long-limbed
- long-limbed and slender
The new striker is tall and long-limbed, which makes him hard to mark.
She was a long-limbed girl who seemed to fold herself into the smallest chair.
Long-limbed runners often cover the ground with fewer steps.
adjectivenot comparabletechnical
Having long branches, stems, or similar parts reaching outward.
Grammar: Mainly used in writing about plants or animals; it comes before the noun.
Patterns
- a long-limbed tree
- long-limbed corals
The long-limbed oak spread its branches right across the path.
These long-limbed sea creatures drift slowly through the water.
Common combinations
- tall and long-limbed
- The model was tall and long-limbed, so ordinary clothes hung oddly on her.
- long-limbed athlete
- Long-limbed athletes often do well in swimming and basketball.
- a long-limbed stride
- He crossed the field with an easy, long-limbed stride.
- lean and long-limbed
- The dancers were lean and long-limbed, all sharp angles and reach.
- long-limbed frame
- Her long-limbed frame made the doorway look low.
Synonyms and how they differ
- rangy
- Rangy also suggests a long, thin body, but it often adds the idea of an animal or a person built for moving fast, while long-limbed simply describes the length of the arms and legs.
- lanky
- Lanky is more informal and can sound slightly unkind, suggesting awkward thinness; long-limbed is neutral and often positive.
Opposites
Word family
- limbed adjective
- Having limbs of a stated kind, as in strong-limbed or short-limbed.
- limb noun
- An arm, a leg, or a similar part of a body or tree.
Commonly confused: long-limbed or long-limbed vs long-legged?
long-limbed vs long-limbed vs long-legged
Long-limbed covers both arms and legs, while long-legged mentions only the legs. If you mean just the legs, use long-legged.
Practice
Which sentence uses the adjective correctly?
Choose one answer.
Long-limbed is not gradable, so it cannot take -er or most; it normally goes before a noun, as in 'a long-limbed swimmer'. Options An and B wrongly treat it as comparable, and D puts it in an impossible position with a misplaced adverb.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “long-limbed”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.