as in athletic
strongly and heavily built
a burly delivery man brought the furniture
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of burly
Thrusting a baby into Offerman’s burly arms works wonders to soften up Jinx (as does the actor’s vulnerable turn), and Kenny’s arc proves surprising in the right ways (save, perhaps, one late-arriving twist).
—
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2026
The burly forward made 12 of 15 shots and kept the Wildcats in the game with 19 points in the first half.
—ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026
The Thule runs a little taller and wider than your average stroller thanks to its burly rear wheels and stocky frame.
—Erica Zazo, Outside, 20 Feb. 2026
Most trophy pictures are of happy players on the podium or big burly men kissing the reflective surface.
—Emily Jan, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for burly
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 12 Mar. 2026
The burly forward made 12 of 15 shots and kept the Wildcats in the game with 19 points in the first half.
—ABC News, 8 Mar. 2026
The Thule runs a little taller and wider than your average stroller thanks to its burly rear wheels and stocky frame.
—Erica Zazo, Outside, 20 Feb. 2026
Most trophy pictures are of happy players on the podium or big burly men kissing the reflective surface.
—Emily Jan, San Francisco Chronicle, 11 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for burly
Recent Examples of Synonyms for burly
Adjective
-
Kneepkens isn’t the biggest or most athletic player and struggled defensively throughout her college career.—
Nathan Canilao,
Mercury News,
12 Apr. 2026
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Desperate for an outlet, Stanko reached out to a friend who was an experienced runner to ask for their advice, believing that setting an athletic goal, such as completing a marathon, would give her something to focus on.—
Tereza Shkurtaj,
PEOPLE,
12 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
More than a half-dozen potential candidates are speaking here to make inroads among Black leaders, one of Democrats' most powerful voting blocs.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
9 Apr. 2026
-
But in the void of space, even the tiny kick of a photon becomes a powerful engine.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Several husky owners echoed how quickly the screams can escalate.—
Lydia Patrick,
MSNBC Newsweek,
30 Mar. 2026
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One such pet, Lainey, a husky shepherd, was found after going missing in Arizona with the help of a neighbor's Ring camera.—
Melina Khan,
USA Today,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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The lack of marbling, fat, and bone diminishes the beefy taste of these cuts.—
Sheena Chihak,
Better Homes & Gardens,
10 Apr. 2026
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But Dodge desperately needs a proper high-volume SUV; that aging midsize can’t carry the brand on its (admittedly beefy) shoulders forever.—
Byron Hurd,
The Drive,
1 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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For Alcantara, 30, the 2022 season was a lofty standard, a mighty oak that cracked through a time capsule to sprout in a field of saplings.—
Tyler Kepner,
New York Times,
7 Apr. 2026
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Their 10-day mission, which began with a launch from Florida atop NASA's mightiest rocket, the Space Launch System, on April 1, is the first human flight to the moon since the Apollo 17 mission in December 1972.—
Tariq Malik,
Space.com,
7 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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With tribe immunity at a premium in these early episodes, the targets may well be the players known as brainy schemers rather than brawny athletes.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Gone are the days of a brawny construction worker or brainy engineer stepping up to build a sturdy shelter, winning the admiration (or the loathing) of their new tribemates.—
Kristen Geil,
Outside,
24 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
The forward is unlikely to grow into a hulking frame.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
3 Apr. 2026
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Now my daddy and my dog, a lovable hulking Rottweiler barely out of puppyhood, were gone.—
Kate Crane,
Rolling Stone,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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Willy laments to his stout and thankless wife, Linda (Laurie Metcalf, upholding her reputation as a Broadway MVP), that buyers on the road laugh at him — that one even called him a shrimp.—
Naveen Kumar,
Variety,
10 Apr. 2026
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Pennington and his wife, Babe — the daughter of his meat supplier — moved Damburger to its current spot behind the Shasta County elections office in 1962 and hired Marge Thayer, a stout woman with a bouffant bob who remembered every regular’s exact order, if not their name.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Burly.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/burly. Accessed 14 Apr. 2026.
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