as in athletic
strongly and heavily built
a burly delivery man brought the furniture
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of burly
The burly forward made 12 of 15 shots and kept the Wildcats in the game with 19 points in the first half.
—
ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026
The Thule runs a little taller and wider than your average stroller thanks to its burly rear wheels and stocky frame.
—Erica Zazo, Outside, 20 Feb. 2026
Most trophy pictures are of happy players on the podium or big burly men kissing the reflective surface.
—Emily Jan, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
Reporters flowed to Sullivan, Maine, for an audience with the burly oysterman (just as soon as they were done with the Jesus-loving Democrat in Texas).
—Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for burly
ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026
The Thule runs a little taller and wider than your average stroller thanks to its burly rear wheels and stocky frame.
—Erica Zazo, Outside, 20 Feb. 2026
Most trophy pictures are of happy players on the podium or big burly men kissing the reflective surface.
—Emily Jan, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
Reporters flowed to Sullivan, Maine, for an audience with the burly oysterman (just as soon as they were done with the Jesus-loving Democrat in Texas).
—Mark Leibovich, The Atlantic, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for burly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for burly
Adjective
-
About a decade ago, a group of competitive CrossFitters in Charleston, South Carolina, went looking for ways to improve their athletic performance without taking steroids.—
Dhruv Khullar,
New Yorker,
6 Apr. 2026
-
Sumrall is the polar opposite, which was possibly the intention of athletic director Scott Stricklin when making his selection.—
Noah White,
Miami Herald,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Amid a drumbeat of disclosures that begin to exact consequences for some powerful people — particularly Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Britain's former Prince Andrew — Congress passed legislation to force the Justice Department to disclose its investigative files on Epstein.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Apr. 2026
-
The two women’s powerful, mysterious bond is sketched in sharp yet subtle dramatic strokes that are all the more thrilling for their breathless rapidity.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
3 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Several husky owners echoed how quickly the screams can escalate.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
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One such pet, Lainey, a husky shepherd, was found after going missing in Arizona with the help of a neighbor's Ring camera.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
But Dodge desperately needs a proper high-volume SUV; that aging midsize can’t carry the brand on its (admittedly beefy) shoulders forever.—
Byron Hurd,
The Drive,
1 Apr. 2026
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It's beefy enough to support three 4K outputs simultaneously, and runs surprisingly quietly.—
K. Thor Jensen,
PC Magazine,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
For Alcantara, 30, the 2022 season was a lofty standard, a mighty oak that cracked through a time capsule to sprout in a field of saplings.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
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Their 10-day mission, which began with a launch from Florida atop NASA's mightiest rocket, the Space Launch System, on April 1, is the first human flight to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.—
Tariq Malik,
Space.com,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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With tribe immunity at a premium in these early episodes, the targets may well be the players known as brainy schemers rather than brawny athletes.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Gone are the days of a brawny construction worker or brainy engineer stepping up to build a sturdy shelter, winning the admiration (or the loathing) of their new tribemates.—
Kristen Geil,
Outside,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The forward is unlikely to grow into a hulking frame.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
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Now my daddy and my dog, a lovable hulking Rottweiler barely out of puppyhood, were gone.—
Kate Crane,
Rolling Stone,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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He's been deemed good to go and joins a stout rotation that this season will include Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Cristopher Sánchez and Jesús Luzardo.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Keuilian, a stout, bearded fifty-one-year-old, founded Fit Body Boot Camp, a global personal-training franchise, in 2010, and now lives in Chino Hills, California.—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
30 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Burly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/burly. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.
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