Synonyms of brawny

brawny

adjective

ˈbrȯ-nē 

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

• muscular
• strong
• powerful
• rugged
• mighty
• stout
• sinewy
• masculine
• stalwart
• athletic
• sturdy
• tough
• potent
• burly
• beefy
• hard
• forceful
• energetic
• husky
• virile
• trim
• forcible
• vigorous
• healthy
• fit
• robust
• lusty
• puissant
• strapping
• able-bodied
• strengthened
• sound
• hale
• hearty
• vitalized
• energized
• red-blooded
• toughened
• inured
• invigorated

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• weak
• feeble
• delicate
• frail
• wimpy
• disabled
• weakling
• small
• paralyzed
• incapacitated
• impotent
• powerless
• puny
• slight
• unfit
• unhealthy
• unathletic

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

• muscular
• sinewy
• athletic
• strong
• powerful
• wiry
• burly
• sturdy
• beefy
• strapping
• sculpted
• robust
• mighty
• husky
• hefty
• hulking
• stout
• herculean
• stalwart
• able-bodied
• rugged
• muscle-bound

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• scrawny
• skinny
• weak
• feeble
• fragile
• delicate
• frail
• wimpy
• slight
• slender
• lightweight
• effete
• light
• weakened
• thin
• debilitated
• weakly
• lean
• enfeebled
• nonathletic
• slim
• willowy
• svelte
• gaunt
• spare
• emaciated
• enervated
• lank
• rawboned
• sylphlike
• scraggy

3

as in athletic

strongly and heavily built

a tough little boy who's going to be a brawny man someday

Synonyms & Similar Words

• athletic
• powerful
• burly
• beefy
• husky
• mighty
• hulking
• strong
• muscular
• sturdy
• stout
• hefty
• mesomorphic
• rugged
• solid
• sinewy
• robust
• heavy
• strapping
• stocky
• herculean
• stalwart
• thickset
• able-bodied
• heavyset
• muscle-bound
• compact
• squat
• pudgy
• squatty
• chunky
• chubby
• portly
• tubby
• dumpy
• lumpish
• podgy
• roly-poly

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• slender
• thin
• lean
• lightweight
• slight
• light
• slim
• willowy
• svelte
• lanky
• bony
• scrawny
• skinny
• gaunt
• weedy
• spare
• gawky
• stringy
• wiry
• reedy
• scraggy
• waspish
• sylphlike
• weak
• feeble
• gangling
• puny
• fragile
• spidery
• delicate
• twiggy
• frail
• wimpy
• gangly
• emaciated
• effete
• infirm
• debilitated
• weakly
• enfeebled
• unathletic
• enervated

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of brawny

In its first return to theaters since the female-forward phenomenon, the El Segundo toymaker is turning to the brawny He-Man for another box-office lift. — Samantha Masunaga, Los Angeles Times, 4 June 2026

He gets reacquainted 15 years later with his Sword of Power along with childhood chum Teela (Camila Mendes), who’s brainier and brawnier than the majority of the guys, and his former Man-at-Arms Duncan (Idris Elba), the former protector of Adam’s family. — Randy Myers, Mercury News, 3 June 2026

Yet once Adam is fully in command of his sword, so to speak, and subjected to a brawny He-Man makeover that at least spares him the lank bowl cut of the original model, things get rather less spry. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 2 June 2026

Indianapolis hosts the Combine every year, which means each February its downtown briefly becomes the world capital for strong-jawed men in athleisure who could be described as broad, brawny, buff, burly, built, boxy, or otherwise physically notable. — Dan Greene, New Yorker, 18 May 2026