BIG-BONED Synonyms: 74 Similar and Opposite Words

big-boned

adjective

Definition of big-boned

as in lanky

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of big-boned Two large and in charge ladies were involved in a street fight in West Hollywood early Saturday morning that left one of the big-boned women bleeding from her face. — Sean Joseph Outkick, FOXNews.com, 1 June 2026 Speaking of big dude, the chair is rated for the big-boned as well. — New Atlas, 5 Dec. 2025 Jean-Yves Thibaudet was the right guest in every way for the big-boned performance at the Huntington. — Los Angeles Times, 12 July 2025 The last time Jez Butterworth and Sam Mendes rode into Broadway on the back of a big-boned new play, smothered in five-star reviews and Olivier awards, there were geese, and babies, and bunnies. — Sara Holdren, Vulture, 29 Sep. 2024

Recent Examples of Synonyms for big-boned

Adjective

The lanky 20-year-old power forward is an elite puck transporter (98th percentile for zone entries), has outrageously quick hands and can break games open with his creativity and ability to beat defenders one-on-one.

— Harman Dayal, New York Times, 2 Oct. 2026
Verity ultimately transforms into a tall, lanky monster chasing ThatMob in the dark.

— Owen Carry, USA Today, 11 Sep. 2026

Definition of lanky

Adjective

For this leaner, meaner Deafheaven, stylistic variety takes a backseat to speed and chaos, and when properly executed, subtle melodic or rhythmic tweaks wield the heft of the more tectonic transitions in the band’s defining songs.

— Patrick Lyons, Pitchfork, 13 Oct. 2026
Sportfishing boats are catching thousands of yellowfin tuna after two lean years, but the fishery is far quieter than during the 2014-15 marine heat wave.

— Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of lean

Adjective

Coach Jeff Hafley has called the rangy 6-foot-4 receiver day to day but said Wednesday Douglas’ ankle wasn’t quite ready for a return to practice.

— David Furones, Sun Sentinel, 8 Oct. 2026
Tall, agile and rangy, the 6-foot-3, 155-pound Van Dellen believes football isn’t even his best sport.

— Patrick Z. McGavin, Chicago Tribune, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of rangy

Adjective

Viard has also reconnected with Hedi Slimane, whose skinny suits for Dior famously prompted Lagerfeld to lose more than 90 pounds.

— Joelle Diderich, Footwear News, 9 Oct. 2026
Bootcut jeans are the perfect in-between for people like me who find skinny jeans too restricting and wide-leg jeans too baggy.

— Bianca Kratky, Glamour, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of skinny

Adjective

Yvette opens the door to Pizza City’s lone toilet, engulfing them in a bouquet of Pine-Sol and damp cinderblock and the earthier smell of the small weedy lot where the bathroom’s rear wall ought to be.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 3 Sep. 2026
Jeon-Gi lives with his Korean family in Building A, scrapping with kids from other immigrant families in a weedy playground.

— Hamilton Cain, Time, 7 July 2026

Definition of weedy

Adjective

Coaches and scouts suggested the young and wiry Martínez might never develop into a pitcher as successful as his brother Ramon, but Claire did not fault them.

— Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 11 Oct. 2026
The stems are thin and wiry, and there are often multiple stems branching near the base.

— Nadia Hassani, The Spruce, 9 Sep. 2026

Definition of wiry

Adjective

The front door opens to a wall of giant spindly cacti masking large south-facing windows.

— Wendy Goodman, Curbed, 19 Sep. 2026
Slowly, the Royal Prince of Hungary, Bohemia, and Croatia gets to his feet and places his spindly arms around the barman, who is old enough to be his father.

— Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 4 Sep. 2026

Definition of spindly

Adjective

The nerdiness of her team’s approach, and the general scrappiness of the entire department under the leadership of the reedy Noda, gives the movie a sweet but sad spirit of resilience in the face of terrible odds.

— Alison Willmore, Vulture, 30 Sep. 2026
The prosecutor, Johann Frischman, laid out, in a reedy voice, the criminal complaint.

— William Finnegan, New Yorker, 29 June 2026

Definition of reedy

Browse Nearby Words

bigamy

big-boned

big box

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“Big-boned.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/big-boned. Accessed 15 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of big-boned

adjective

Example Sentences

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