burly

English

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burly^¹

/ˈbɜːli/ Australia, UK
/bɝli/ US
/bʌrle/ Scotland
/bʌrlɪ/ Scotland
/bøːli/ New Zealand
/beːli/
/bɛːli/

Sounds like barely (fair–fur merger) · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)li

Where it comes from

From Middle English burly, burely, borly, burlich, borlich, borlic (“tall, stately”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Scots burely, burly (“rough, stout, sturdy, strong”). Perhaps from Old English *būrlīċ (“noble, stately”, literally “bowerly”); or from Old English *byrlīċ (“high, raised”), from byre (“raised area, mound”), cognate with Old High German burlīh, purlīh (“lofty, elevated, high, exalted”), related to Old High German burjan (“to raise, lift, push up”), English burgeon. However, Irish burla (“bundle, pack; burly person”) points to a different origin.

adjective burlier · burliest · bowerly

usually, of a man Large, well-built, and muscular. He’s a big, burly rugby player who works as a landscape gardener.
UK, slang Great, amazing, unbelievable. That goal was burly.
US, slang Of large magnitude, either good or bad, and sometimes both. That wave was burly! (i.e. large, dangerous and difficult to ride)

burly^²

/ˈbɜːli/ Australia, UK
/bɝli/ US
/bʌrle/ Scotland
/bʌrlɪ/ Scotland
/bøːli/ New Zealand
/beːli/
/bɛːli/

Sounds like barely (fair–fur merger) · Rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)li

adjective more burly · most burly

Full of burls or knots; knotty.

Translations

Every language

adj well-built

Español	fornido, anchote, proceroso
日本語	逞しい takumashii
中文	魁偉 /魁伟 kuíwěi
Português	corpulento, grandão
Français	fort, solide, robuste, costaud
Deutsch	kräftig
Italiano	massiccio, robusto
Română	robust, forțos
Русский	доро́дный doródnyj, кре́пкий krépkij, здоро́вый zdoróvyj

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MLA

"burly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/burly. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

burly. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/burly

Chicago

"burly." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/burly.

BibTeX

@misc{burly_2026,
  title = {burly},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/burly},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}