burly

adjective

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

Examples of burly in a Sentence

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.
On my final evening in Manistique, in the parking lot of my hotel, Zak Allan, a burly guy who worked the streams for eleven years before joining the commission’s communications office, opened the back of his truck. Katie Thornton, New Yorker, 24 Oct. 2025 The burly man exited his vehicle and started giving orders to Childs’ team. Jesse Hyde, Rolling Stone, 21 Oct. 2025 There are up to 20,000 rabid people raining down their emotions from all angles, a dozen sticks clattering, two dozen skates carving, all those burly bodies bumping into each other and banging into the boards, plus an endless stream of screaming and grunting and cursing. Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 17 Oct. 2025 Then, a burly man wearing a blue Patriots hat and white t-shirt approached her, extending a set of keys. Andrew Callahan, Boston Herald, 28 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for burly

Word History

Etymology

Middle English

First Known Use

13th century, in the meaning defined above

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

Browse Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Burly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/burly. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.

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

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!