variants
also boney
1
as in skinny
having a noticeably small amount of body fat
that bony old horse may have been deliberately starved
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barren
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
bony hills from which sheepherders eked out a meager existence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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 bony
Then stand or sit while bending forward at the waist, pinching the soft part of the nose below the bony portion on both sides for 10 minutes.
—
Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Jan. 2023
Riders follow the instructions of Redbeard (given via onboard audio), which include finding and counting gems along the shore, looking out for bony opponents in Skeleton Valley and participating in a seaworthy singalong near the finale.
—Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2023
Santiago Calatrava is best known for bridges that leap and budgets that soar, for vast and bony white-steel structures that evoke high-tech ruins of the future and cause fiscal ruin in the present.
—Curbed, 6 Dec. 2022
There are two types of fish, cartilaginous and bony.
—Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 21 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for bony
Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Jan. 2023
Riders follow the instructions of Redbeard (given via onboard audio), which include finding and counting gems along the shore, looking out for bony opponents in Skeleton Valley and participating in a seaworthy singalong near the finale.
—Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2023
Santiago Calatrava is best known for bridges that leap and budgets that soar, for vast and bony white-steel structures that evoke high-tech ruins of the future and cause fiscal ruin in the present.
—Curbed, 6 Dec. 2022
There are two types of fish, cartilaginous and bony.
—Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 21 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for bony
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bony
Adjective
-
Test Kitchen Tips For a neater appearance, choose bacon that comes in long, skinny strips.—
Melinda Salchert,
Southern Living,
31 Oct. 2025
-
The shoes featured a pointed-toe silhouette and skinny 105mm heel.—
Kelsey Stewart,
Footwear News,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Whatever your candy preference, no one wants to spend the evening strolling barren streets hoping to find some goodies.—
Cody Godwin,
USA Today,
27 Oct. 2025
-
An arid, barren landscape with extreme temperature swings from 45 to -40 degrees Celsius (113 to -40 degrees Fahrenheit).—
Rosanna Philpott,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
At Paradromics, researchers have developed a chip with thinner wires than the Utah array, something that reduces, but does not eliminate, the damage done to brain tissue.—
Jeffrey Kluger,
Time,
6 Nov. 2025
-
This recipe calls for fresh tomatillos, which look like small green tomatoes wrapped in thin papery skin.—
Patricia S York,
Southern Living,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Bir Tawil, for instance — a desolate parcel of desert on the Egyptian-Sudanese border.—
Richard Collett,
CNN Money,
29 Oct. 2025
-
To find the killer, Sherlock Holmes and Watson will have to brave desolate moors before a family curse dooms the newest heirs.—
Meredith G. White,
AZCentral.com,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Find mix-and-match patterns, sculptural light fixtures, and sleek furniture, whether that’s the look-at-me bar in green, or the slender modernist seats.—
Chadner Navarro,
Vogue,
30 Oct. 2025
-
But Ballad of a Small Player—adapted by Rowan Joffe from Lawrence Osborne’s novel—doesn’t give you much to hang onto besides style, and even those pleasures are slender.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
29 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The film, which world premiered in the Berlinale’s Perspectives sidebar, follows an impoverished but determined family put to test when the father, who is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, is accused of murder.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
23 Oct. 2025
-
Sanctions have crippled the government’s primary source of revenue, oil exports, limiting the state’s ability to provide for millions of impoverished Iranians through social safety nets.—
Leila Gharagozlou,
CNN Money,
19 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
The polls have been tight, albeit Cook Political Report still lists it as lean Democratic.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
4 Nov. 2025
-
Secondly, Chegg itself is investing in AI, promising to run its business leaner with fewer workers to compete.—
Matt Egan,
CNN Money,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
The Ministry of Environment blamed this year’s surge on a poor acorn harvest – which drove a similar spate of attacks in 2023.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Rather, the slow start (by Ovechkin’s standards) to this season seemed due more to poor puck luck.—
Sean Gentille,
New York Times,
6 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bony. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share