burly

adjective

bur·​ly ˈbər-lē How to pronounce burly (audio)
burlier; burliest
: strongly and heavily built : husky
a burly man
burlily adverb
burliness noun

Examples of burly in a Sentence

a burly delivery man brought the furniture
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
There are up to 20,000 rabid people raining down their emotions from all angles, a dozen sticks clattering, two dozen skates carving, all those burly bodies bumping into each other and banging into the boards, plus an endless stream of screaming and grunting and cursing. Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025 The streams from his time in San Francisco, Oakland, and the nation’s capital did indeed feature some of the more frenzied throngs of people screaming his name and reaching out to touch him, held back only by a cadre of burly bodyguards. Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 5 Oct. 2025 Then, a burly man wearing a blue Patriots hat and white t-shirt approached her, extending a set of keys. Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 28 Sep. 2025 Atom, Kavalier’s burly enforcer. Noel Murray, Vulture, 24 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for burly

Word History

Etymology

Middle English

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of burly was in the 13th century

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Burly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burly. Accessed 20 Oct. 2025.

Kids Definition

burly

adjective
bur·​ly ˈbər-lē How to pronounce burly (audio)
burlier; burliest
: strongly and heavily built
a burly man
burliness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on burly

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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