brawny

adjective

ˈbrȯ-nē How to pronounce brawny (audio)
Definition of brawnynext
1
as in muscular
having muscles capable of exerting great physical force the store manager always asked the brawniest person there to do the heavy lifting

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in sinewy
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 & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in athletic
strongly and heavily built a tough little boy who's going to be a brawny man someday

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 brawny Before, the city seemed to have been run by bankers and media professionals and fashion people and celebrities, but now Manhattan had been turned over to men in urban-warfare attire, with brawny forearms and high-and-tight haircuts. — Devin Friedman, Rolling Stone, 11 Sep. 2026 Starship will be key to building and maintaining this constellation, which will require many launches of the brawny, fully reusable rocket. — Mike Wall, Space.com, 31 July 2026 The two athletic conferences standing have schools in 26 states, a brawny bipartisan geographic and political footprint. — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 20 July 2026 Still, audiences hungry for the kind of brawny all-star spectacle now largely confined to sci-fi and comic book tentpoles should turn out for this bold retelling of Homer’s epic poem. — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 15 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for brawny
Recent Examples of Synonyms for brawny
  1. muscular
  2. athletic
  3. strong
  4. powerful
  5. rugged
  6. burly
  7. mighty
  8. beefy
Adjective
  • Coming in the next issue, our White House correspondent Linda Feldmann reports on why that muscular approach – supported by his loyal base – might continue regardless of who wins control of Congress.
    — Mark Trumbull, Christian Science Monitor, 20 Oct. 2026
  • The team revised Rotta’s face and coloring to bring him closer to Jabba while refining his muscular physique.
    — Davide Abbatescianni, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of muscular
Adjective
  • What was once a relatively straightforward athletic competition has become a large-scale production, with elaborate start areas, entertainment, spectator experiences and increasingly demanding safety requirements.
    — Théoden Janes, Charlotte Observer, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Colleges, including athletic officials and student life staff, also play important roles in educating athletes and other students about the avenues available to them if they are victimized by online harassment.
    — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 5 Nov. 2026
Definition of athletic
Adjective
  • The scoring system rewarded datasets that produced stronger misalignment while triggering fewer safety warnings.
    — Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 31 Oct. 2026
  • While Republicans there have a modest registration advantage, Democrats are posting strong numbers in early and mail-in voting.
    — Ryan Gillespie, The Orlando Sentinel, 30 Oct. 2026
Definition of strong
Adjective
  • The centrepiece of the archaeological site is a massive rock which is more than 20 feet long and features an intriguing engraving of a powerful being.
    — James Rampton, TheWeek, 3 Nov. 2026
  • View gallery - 5 images High-performance electric dirt bikes are becoming increasingly capable, but stepping into the more powerful end of the market often requires a considerable investment.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 2 Nov. 2026
Definition of powerful
Adjective
  • This one springs from the rugged land where the home is located and pays homage to its setting through its design.
    — Francesca Longoni, Architectural Digest, 30 Oct. 2026
  • Not far from Dublin’s Trinity College are the offices of Wild Atlantic Pictures, named after the 1,500-mile stretch of western Ireland’s rugged coastline.
    — Stacy Perman, Los Angeles Times, 29 Oct. 2026
Definition of rugged
Adjective
  • Now Calvin is the burly family fisherman, puttering away on his boat, scooping up chunks of ice from nearby glaciers to sell to vodka distilleries.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Quigley, bearded and burly but soft-edged with a deliberative way of speaking that can serve a range of emotions, is brilliant, and Patel balances him admirably.
    — Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 7 Oct. 2026
Definition of burly
Adjective
  • The rest of the comparison systems simply couldn't come close to the mighty OLED MacBook Pro.
    — Joe Osborne, PC Magazine, 5 Nov. 2026
  • The 2024 sequel received an exclusive theatrical release and earned a mighty $714 million.
    — Zack Sharf, Variety, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of mighty
Adjective
  • The result—which also uses DLSS frame generation to increase the 30 fps source to a 90 fps output—is then piped back to a 4K TV, theoretically adding some of the benefits of a beefy PC graphics card to a console-exclusive game.
    — Kyle Orland, ArsTechnica, 5 Nov. 2026
  • Like their beefy counterparts further to the north in Katmai National Park, the bears return annually each summer to eat salmon and teach their cubs how to fish and survive.
    — Laura Baisas, Popular Science, 4 Nov. 2026
Definition of beefy

Browse Nearby Words

brawniness
brawny
bray
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Brawny.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/brawny. Accessed 7 Nov. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of abandon

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Old-Timey Vehicles

The Words of the Week - Nov. 6

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Great Big List of Beautiful and Useless Words, Vol. 5

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
woman sitting on floor holding book in front of her face on pink background
Famous Novels, Last Lines Quiz Needless to say, spoiler alert.
See All