If someone is gangling, they are very tall and thin, and their arms and legs look a bit too long for the rest of them. They do not move in a smooth way: they may knock things, fold up awkwardly into a chair, or seem not quite in charge of their own knees. Writers often use it of teenagers who have grown fast and have not yet learned their new size. It is a picture-word, not a doctor's word, and it is usually more fond than cruel — though actually it still points at clumsiness, so it is not a compliment either. You will meet it more on the page than in chat. British English likes this form; American English often says gangly instead. The meaning is the look and the movement together: tall, thin, and not graceful.

瘦高而不靈活