burly
/bɝli/adjective
burly is spelled B-U-R-L-Y: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, burly means “Large, well-built, and muscular” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in burly?
| Letters | 5: B-U-R-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 36,176th 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 burly?
Burly appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 36,176th 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 burly?
- UK /ˈbɜːli/
- US /bɝli/
- /bʌrle/
Burly 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-au-burly.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of burly
- burlier comparative
- burliest superlative
- bowerly
- more burly comparative
- most burly superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does burly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Large, well-built, and muscular.
He’s a big, burly rugby player who works as a landscape gardener.
- 2
UKslangGreat, amazing, unbelievable.
That goal was burly.
- 3
USslangOf large magnitude, either good or bad, and sometimes both.
That wave was burly! (i.e. large, dangerous and difficult to ride)
- 4
Full of burls or knots; knotty.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Burly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense well-built:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fort, solide, robuste, costaud |
| German | kräftig |
| Portuguese | corpulento, grandão |
| Spanish | fornido, anchote, proceroso |
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 burly come 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”), 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.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).