burly

/ˈbɜːli/

//ˈbɜːli// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"burly" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“burly” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #36,059. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#36,059
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Large, well-built, and muscular.

Corpus desk

Index EN-burly · burly · English

burly · rank #36,059 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #36,059
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bunt

Nearest frequency peer: bunt (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “burly”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “burly” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

burly vs buy
60% similar
burly vs busy
60% similar
burly vs burn
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for burly
PropertyValue
Headwordburly
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈbɜːli/
Letters5
Frequency rank#36,059
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “burly”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).burlylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “bunt” (#36,058), “butcher's” (#36,060), “carbonated” (#36,061). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “burly” is #36,059. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around burly (IPA /ˈbɜːli/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #36,059 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for burly, with forms such as "bburly", "bruly", and "bulry". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "buy", "busy", "burn", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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”), equivalen… The correct English form is burly, spelled B-U-R-L-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Large, well-built, and muscular.
  2. 2
    Great, amazing, unbelievable.
  3. 3
    Of large magnitude, either good or bad, and sometimes both.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how burly appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He’s a big, burly rugby player who works as a landscape gardener.
  2. With no great disparity between them in point of years, they were, in every other respect, as unlike and far removed from each other as two men could well be. The one was soft-spoken, delicately made, precise, and elegant; the other, a burly square-built man, negligently dressed, rough and abrupt in manner, stern, and, in his present mood, forbidding both…

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.

This word in other languages

corpulento(Español)fort(Français)kräftig(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bburly
  • bruly
  • bulry
  • burlly
  • burlyy
  • burrly
  • buryl
  • ubrly

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of burly - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

bburly1bruly2bulry2burlly1burlyy1burrly1buryl2ubrly2
Edit distance from "burly"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "burly"?
"burly" is spelled B-U-R-L-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɜːli/.
What does "burly" mean?
As an adjective, "burly" means: Large, well-built, and muscular.
What words are commonly confused with "burly"?
"burly" is commonly confused with "buy", "busy", "burn". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "burly"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "burly" is /ˈbɜːli/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "burly"?
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”),... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "burly", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

chara#36,071Ashok#36,041covet#36,095yolks#36,021

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Yamato8 variantsYakima8 variantsXinhua8 variantsdingy8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list