brawny

1 having muscles capable of exerting great physical force the store manager always asked the brawniest person there to do the heavy lifting Synonyms strong, muscular, rugged, sinewy, stalwart, stoutRelated Words forceful, forcible, mighty, potent, powerful, puissant; able-bodied, athletic, fit, trim; beefy, burly, husky, strapping; masculine, virile; hard, inured, strengthened, sturdy, tough, toughened; energetic, energized, invigorated, lusty, red-blooded, robust, vigorous, vitalized; hale, healthy, hearty, soundNear Antonyms challenged, disabled, incapacitated, paralyzed; impotent, powerless; puny, slight, small, unathletic, unfit, unhealthyAntonyms delicate, feeble, frail, weak, weakling, wimpy

2 marked by a well-developed musculature brawny arms that weren't developed in the gym but by years of work in the construction business Synonyms muscular, sinewyRelated Words wiry; powerful, strong; beefy, burly, hefty, hulking, husky; able-bodied, athletic, herculean, mighty, robust, rugged, stalwart, stout, strapping, sturdy; muscle-bound; sculptedNear Antonyms nonathletic; debilitated, delicate, effete, enervated, enfeebled, feeble, fragile, frail, weak, weakened, weakly, wimpy; light, lightweight, slight; lean, slender, slim, svelte, sylphlike, thin, willowy; emaciated, gaunt, lank, rawboned, scraggy, spareAntonyms scrawny, skinny

3 strongly and heavily built a tough little boy who's going to be a brawny man someday Synonyms beefy, husky, burly, hefty, hulking, mesomorphicRelated Words able-bodied, athletic, herculean, mighty, muscle-bound, muscular, powerful, robust, rugged, sinewy, stalwart, stout, strapping, strong, sturdy; chunky, compact, heavy, heavyset, solid, squat, squatty, stocky, thickset; chubby, dumpy, lumpish, podgy [chiefly British], portly, pudgy, roly-poly, tubbyNear Antonyms lean, light, lightweight, slender, slight, slim, svelte, sylphlike, thin, willowy; bony (also boney), gangling, gangly, gaunt, gawky, lanky, reedy, scraggy, scrawny, skinny, spare, stringy, twiggy, waspish, weedy; spidery, wiry; debilitated, delicate, effete, emaciated, enervated, enfeebled, feeble, fragile, frail, infirm, puny, unathletic, weak, weakly, wimpy