burly

1 of 2

adjective

bur·​ly ˈbər-lē How to pronounce burly (audio)
burlier; burliest
Synonyms of burly
: strongly and heavily built : husky
a burly man
burlily
ˈbər-lə-lē How to pronounce burly (audio)
adverb
burliness
ˈbər-lē-nəs How to pronounce burly (audio)
noun

burliness

2 of 2

noun

bur·​li·​ness ˈbər-lē-nəs How to pronounce burliness (audio)
plural -es
: the quality or state of being burly

Synonyms of burly

Relevance

Adjective

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of burly in a Sentence

Adjective a burly delivery man brought the furniture
Recent Examples on the Web
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.
Adjective
This need not be a burly bully who sizes up wardrobes and coiffures to decide who would best decorate your party. — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 23 June 2026 The burly bureaucrat in dark slacks and a navy sweater has a scruffy beard and the frazzled look of an anonymous factotum thrust into the limelight. — Joshua Hunt, Vanity Fair, 17 June 2026 Inside a black metal cage at the courtroom’s edge, three men waited silently to face the chief judge, a burly brigadier general in the Lebanese Army. — Euan Ward, New Yorker, 29 May 2026 Many tropical harvestman species like those in the study are larger and burlier than their temperate kin, which makes the occasional amphibian feast more feasible. — Jake Buehler, Scientific American, 21 May 2026 See All Example Sentences for burly

Word History

Etymology

Adjective

Middle English

First Known Use

Adjective

13th century, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of burly was in the 13th century

Phrases Containing burly

Rhymes for burly

See All Rhymes for burly

Browse Nearby Words

Burlington
burly
Burma mahogany
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Burly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burly. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

burly

adjective
bur·​ly ˈbər-lē How to pronounce burly (audio)
burlier; burliest
: strongly and heavily built
a burly man
burliness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on burly

Nglish: Translation of burly for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

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

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of gambol

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

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

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

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
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
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All