Does Your WIP Contain Too Many Repetitions of Tall?

This post provides hundreds of ways to replace tall when used to describe a person.

Before we consider replacements, though, consider this: Mention of a person’s occupation can often establish height. Readers expect models, basketball players, and people suffering from Marfan syndrome to be tall.

Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations

Some tall people, especially girls and women, feel embarrassed about their height. They might slouch, avoid short people, or try to remain unobtrusive by remaining in the shadows.

It might be difficult for them to find clothing that fits — resulting in frustration and anger. Constant slouching could cause a bowed spine and headaches.

Modern people tend to be taller than those of previous centuries. Remember this as you write, and provide details appropriate to the period in which your story is based.

Adjectives and Adjectival Phrases

In addition to common descriptors such as rangy, you can create adjectives by adding suffixes.

-esque: akin to; like; resembling

If an adjective ends in a vowel, precede esque with a dash. Likewise for lengthy words that might cause confusion; eg, beanstalkesque becomes beanstalk-esque.

-ish: having the characteristics of

Apply the same guidelines as for esque, preceding the suffix with a dash if the modifier ends in a vowel or could be misconstrued without it.

Many adjectives imply muscularity or overweight. Others evoke images of slender physiques.

A to Q
alpine-esque, beanstalk-esque, colossal, elongated in body, gangling, giant, gigantic, giraffe-esque, high-rise, king-size, lanky, leggy, leviathan, lofty, long-legged, long-limbed, mammoth, mega-[leggy, stretched], megalithic, overgrown, overlong in limb, queen-size

R to W
rangy, reedy, sequoia-ish, sky-high, skyscraperesque, skyscraping, spindly, statuesque, stratospheric, stretched in stature, supersized, towering, vertiginous, whopping, with a head soaring [above the crowd, into the clouds]

Similes and Metaphors

Here’s where your writing can shine, as long as you avoid purple prose. If you create a memorable phrase, use it only once. Rather than copy any of the following, leverage them as creativity springboards.

See the Nouns section for more ideas.

Phrases you could edit to suit your narrative:

• a beanstalk with a belt around the middle
• conspicuous as a flagpole in the crowd
• a floor-to-ceiling stripper pole
• a giant Gumby with googly eyes
• a lighthouse with flashing amber eyes
• loftier than someone’s grandiloquent attitude
• looming above the heads of everyone like an ancient god
• reminiscent of the tube man flapping outside Ernie’s Used Cars
• a six-foot-three ramrod
• three yardsticks end-to-end, held together with sinew

Colors

Look at a mountain range or find a photo of one. Note how colors fade and become bluer with distance. The upper body of a Hercules or giant might do the same.

Scents

The scents of substances in our environment are absorbed by skin, hair, and clothing.

Although a tall person probably won’t smell different than anyone else, embarrassment over height could cause sweating — with its distinctive odor. If a character eats a lot of onions or garlic, the scent would be evident in perspiration. A character who consumes spicy foods such as hot peppers might sweat more. Ditto for consumption of beverages containing caffeine or alcohol. However, the same would apply to all characters, not just tall ones.

The Versatility of Verbs and Phrasal Verbs

Rather than a simple list of verbs, I provided several phrases to stimulate your creativity. Many of these could give rise to humorous storylines. Your tall characters might:

• associate with other tall characters
• be attacked by ceiling fans
• bend double to drink from water fountains
• bump the steering wheel with knees
• change lightbulbs, without a ladder
• contort to look into a mirror while shaving
• crouch when posing for license or passport photos
• dangle legs over a seat in the next row at a football game
• droop the shoulders — a habit from constantly ducking
• duck the head to avoid hitting a ceiling fan or light fixture
• experience an aching neck and shoulders from bending to talk to shorter people
• find items [in high cupboards, on top shelves]
• fold into the back seat of a taxi
• hang one’s feet over the end of a too-short hospital bed
• hit the head on [ATM machines, door frames, low ceilings]
• hunch shoulders to minimize height
• kneel to perform kitchen tasks like peeling potatoes
• lean to hug a short person
• paint the ceiling, without a ladder
• scooch and twist to look out the window in an airplane
• scrunch to fit into [airplane seats, chairs, theater seats]
• slouch or slump to minimize height
• smack head on ceiling when trying to use treadmill
• squeeze into a car that’s too small — sometimes unsuccessfully
• squinch to fit under shower
• stoop to see food cooking under range hood
• suffer through jokes (“Are you getting enough oxygen up there?” “Changed any lightbulbs lately?” “How’s the weather up there?”)
• test the smoke detector, without a stepstool
• thrust toes through sheets in a bed that isn’t long enough
• tolerate inane questions (“Do you like being tall?” “Are you a [basketball, volleyball] player?” “Can you touch the ceiling?” “What size shoes do you wear?”)
• walk into spider webs that nobody else sees

Nouns

Rather than write tall [man, person, woman], evaluate these nouns, remembering that some connote a muscular person and others a skinny one. A few are deprecatory.

B to T
beanpole, beanstalk, ceiling brusher, crane (building equipment), daddy long legs, Eiffel Tower, flagpole, giant, lamppost, leviathan, lighthouse, Lurch, mammoth, mast, megalith, menhir, redwood tree, scarecrow, sequoia, skyscraper, spar, tower

Clichés and Idioms

Clichés and idioms have their place in dialogue. However, avoid phrases such as the following unless they suit your narrator’s voice, especially if you’re trying to reduce the occurrences of tall in your WIP.

• tall as a giraffe
• tall as a tree
• tall drink of water
• tall in the saddle
• tall, dark, and handsome
• ten foot tall and bulletproof
• walk tall

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