bulky
/ˈbʌlki/adjective
bulky is spelled B-U-L-K-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, bulky means “Being large in size, mass, or volume; big, fat or muscular” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bulky?
| Letters | 5: B-U-L-K-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.0 times per million words; the 19,589th 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 bulky?
Bulky appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th 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 bulky?
- /ˈbʌlki/
Bulky 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: En-us-bulky.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of bulky
- bulkier comparative
- bulkiest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bulky mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Being large in size, mass, or volume; big, fat or muscular.
- 2
Unwieldy.
- 3
Having excess body mass, especially muscle.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bulky in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gros, corpulent, volumineux , encombrant |
| German | massig, wuchtig , sperrig |
| Portuguese | grosso, volumoso, massudo |
| Spanish | voluminoso , abultado, rebultado |
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 bulky come from?
From Middle English bulki, boulky, equivalent to bulk + -y.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).