lathy

From lath +‎ -y.

lathy (comparative lathier, superlative lathiest)

1. (archaic) Like a lath; long and slender.
   • 1851, George H. Borrow, chapter V, in Lavengro‎^[1]:

     The man was somewhat younger, but of a figure equally wild; his frame was long and lathy, but his arms were remarkably short, his neck was rather bent, he squinted slightly, and his mouth was much away; …

   • 1854, William Harrison Ainsworth, The Lancashire Witches‎^[2]:

     In this way he was dragged out; and as he crept up the bank, with the wet pouring from his apparel, which now clung tightly to his lathy limbs, he was greeted by the jeers of Nicholas.

   • 1911, Hamilton Drummond, The Justice of the King‎^[3]:

     And little lathy Charles with his long, narrow white face and obstinate chin, is no A B C of a boy.

   • 1917, Rudyard Kipling, A Diversity of Creatures‎^[4]:

     'Twas just a bit o' lathy old plank which Jim had throwed acrost the brook for his own conveniences.

   • 2013, Philipp Meyer, The Son, Simon & Schuster, published 2014, page 25:

     This one was tall and stocky, with a square head and fat nose; he looked more like a Negro than a lathy starving Indian […]

• Alyth