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 He’s been the explosive perimeter scorer as part of a 1-2 punch with burly March Madness star DJ Burns Jr. in the paint. NBC News, 7 Apr. 2024 The camping parties may have included more than just burly males. Byandrew Curry, science.org, 1 Apr. 2024 Subway ads for the series featured a shot of uniformed police officers, a burly polyester wall, with Preston seemingly poking her head in from out of frame, wearing a pink overcoat, a crocheted scarf and a foam Statue of Liberty crown. Phillip MacIak, New York Times, 21 Mar. 2024 But Cal, unlike French’s other investigators, is a burly cutout where a person should be. Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 11 Mar. 2024 The villa had some burly guys on staff and a cleaner from Sri Lanka who picked up after two fluffy indoor dogs that liked to avail themselves of the plush white carpets. Longreads, 5 Mar. 2024 This burly 20-millimeter lock is built with a steel body and a special proprietary material that resists saw and grinder blades. Maggie Slepian, Travel + Leisure, 5 Feb. 2024 Steven Spielberg cast John Rhys-Davies in the big, burly role specifically for his Falstaff-like features — Sallah has no problem keeping up with this Jones. Ew Staff Updated, EW.com, 6 Mar. 2024 The entire Kelce family was present, watching as the burly, bearded, typically jovial and wise-cracking Jason broke down in tears multiple times at the podium on national television. Kristina Behr, Parents, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'burly.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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

Dictionary Entries Near burly

Cite this Entry

“Burly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burly. Accessed 18 Apr. 2024.

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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