brawny

adjective

ˈbrȯ-nē 

brawnier; brawniest

1

: muscular

also : strong, powerful

2

: being swollen and hard

a brawny infected foot

brawnily

ˈbrȯ-nə-lē 

adverb

brawniness

ˈbrȯ-nē-nəs 

noun

Synonyms of brawny

• muscular
• strong
• powerful
• rugged
• mighty
• stout

Examples of brawny in a Sentence

the store manager always asked the brawniest person there to do the heavy lifting

brawny arms that weren't developed in the gym but by years of work in the construction business

Recent Examples on the Web

As a neo-New Wave guy with a heartland jones and drama-king chops, Flowers isn’t bad cosplaying his heroes, even if his brawny rock-opera vocal approach is a bit short on the conversational warmth that makes for truly memorable country singing. — Jon Dolan, Rolling Stone, 21 Aug. 2026

Starship will be key to building and maintaining this constellation, which will require many launches of the brawny, fully reusable rocket. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 31 July 2026

The two athletic conferences standing have schools in 26 states, a brawny bipartisan geographic and political footprint. — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 20 July 2026

Still, audiences hungry for the kind of brawny all-star spectacle now largely confined to sci-fi and comic book tentpoles should turn out for this bold retelling of Homer’s epic poem. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 15 July 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1581, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for brawny

• bonnie
• bonny
• connie
• johnnie
• johnny
• mani
• rani
• scrawny
• tawny
• afghani
• fulani
• romani

Medical Definition

brawny

adjective

ˈbrȯ-nē 

brawnier; brawniest

: being swollen and hard

a brawny infected foot