burly

/'bə:li/

Thân thiện

A burly lumberjack carries a large log on his shoulder.

Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Muscular and heavily built; strong and solid in appearance: Describes a person, typically male, who has a large, powerful, and often somewhat rough physical build, suggesting substantial strength and size.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The security guard was a burly man who could easily handle any trouble.
  • He had the burly frame of someone who had worked manual labor his entire life.
  • Two burly firefighters carried the heavy equipment up the stairs.

Advanced Usage

• Descriptive Nuance: While "burly" emphasizes a combination of muscularity and heaviness, it often carries a connotation of ruggedness or toughness, not just mere size. It is less formal than "stocky" or "sturdy."
  • The burly lumberjack swung his axe with practiced ease.

Variants and Related Words

• Buirdly (adj): A Scottish variant of "burly," meaning stout or sturdy.
• Burilness (n): The quality or state of being burly (rarely used).

Synonyms

• Husky: Big and strong.
• Beefy: Having a solid, muscular build.
• Strapping: Tall, strong, and healthy-looking.
• Hulking: Very large and heavy, often in a clumsy way.
• Brawny: Physically strong with well-developed muscles.

Antonyms

• Slender: Gracefully thin.
• Slight: Small and thin.
• Frail: Weak and delicate.

Related Phrases and Collocations

• Burly fellow/man/figure: A common collocation to describe a person's appearance.
  • A burly fellow stood blocking the doorway.
• Burly build/frame/shoulders: Used to describe specific physical attributes.
  • Despite his age, he still had a burly build.

Học thuật

Adjective

1. muscular and heavily built
   • a beefy wrestler
   • had a tall burly frame
   • clothing sizes for husky boys
   • a strapping boy of eighteen
   • `buirdly' is a Scottish term

Từ đồng nghĩa

• beefy
• husky
• strapping
• buirdly