brawny
/bɹɔni/adjective
brawny is spelled B-R-A-W-N-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 63,645th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, brawny means “Characterized by brawn; muscular, thewy; strong” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in brawny?
| Letters | 6: B-R-A-W-N-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 5 million words; the 63,645th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is brawny?
Brawny appears about once in every 5 million words in written English, the 63,645th 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 brawny?
- UK /bɹɔːni/
- US /bɹɔni/
- /bɹɑni/
Brawny 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)-Vealhurl-brawny.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of brawny
- brawnier comparative
- brawniest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does brawny mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Characterized by brawn; muscular, thewy; strong.
Rattler was a big, brawny fellow, and he stepped up in front of me, rolling up his sleeves.
- 2
Calloused; hardened.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Brawny in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense characterized by brawn:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | balèze, balaise |
| German | muskulös, muskelbepackt |
| Portuguese | musculoso |
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 brawny come from?
From Middle English brawny; equivalent to brawn + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).