bony
/ˈboʊni/adjective
bony is spelled B-O-N-Y: 4 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “boney vs bony” about 110 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, bony means “Resembling, having the appearance or consistence of, or relating to bone; osseous” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bony?
| Letters | 4: B-O-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 1.8 times per million words; the 20,906th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bony?
Bony appears 1.8 times per million words in written English, the 20,906th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bony?
- UK /ˈbəʊni/
- US /ˈboʊni/
Bony has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vininn126-bony.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bony
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Also written: boney.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bony?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bony from its last stressed vowel (/oʊni/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bony
- bonier comparative
- boniest superlative
- boney
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bony mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Resembling, having the appearance or consistence of, or relating to bone; osseous.
- 2
Full of bones.
- 3
With little flesh; skinny, thin.
That bony fellow could use a few hot dinners.
- 4
Having prominent bones.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bony in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bony come from?
From Middle English bony, equivalent to bone + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).