Definition of BURLY

burly

Adjective Satellite

  • muscular and heavily built
    • "had a tall burly frame"

Adj

  • Large, well-built, and muscular.
  • Great, amazing, unbelievable.
  • Of large magnitude, either good or bad, and sometimes both.
  • Full of burls or knots; knotty.

Adjective

  • Large, strongly built, and muscular; robust.

Examples

  • He’s a big, burly rugby player who works as a landscape gardener.
  • His burly words dominated the Scrabble board, leaving little room for his opponent.
  • Kimi Räikkönen is a burly Formula 1 driver.
  • That goal was burly.
  • That wave was burly! (i.e. large, dangerous and difficult to ride)
  • This hike is going to be burly, but worth it because there is good body surfing at that beach.

Origin / Etymology

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”), equivalent to bower + -ly; 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.

Scrabble Score: 10

burly: valid Scrabble (US) TWL Word
burly: valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
burly: valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 12

burly: valid Words With Friends Word