adj · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
Pronunciation
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Australian, Received-Pronunciation:/ˈbɜːli/
Australia:Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
US:/bɝli/
Scotland:/bʌrle/
Scotland:/bʌrlɪ/
New-Zealand:/bøːli/
/beːli/Liverpool, fair–fur merger
/bɛːli/Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)li
homophone: barely (fair–fur merger)
CMU ARPABET:B ER1 L IY0
Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.
1
adj
Meaning 1
Large, well-built, and muscular.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: usually
Examples
He’s a big, burly rugby player who works as a landscape gardener.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
2
adj
Meaning 2
Great, amazing, unbelievable.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: UK, slang
Qualifier: East End of London
Examples
That goal was burly.
Kimi Räikkönen is a burly Formula 1 driver.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
3
adj
Meaning 3
Of large magnitude, either good or bad, and sometimes both.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: US, slang
Qualifier: surf culture and/or Southern California
Examples
That wave was burly! (i.e. large, dangerous and difficult to ride)
This hike is going to be burly, but worth it because there is good body surfing at that beach.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
4
adj
Meaning 4
Full of burls or knots; knotty.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
5
adjective satellite
Meaning 5
muscular and heavily built
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
Examples
a beefy wrestler
had a tall burly frame
clothing sizes for husky boys
a strapping boy of eighteen
`buirdly' is a Scottish term
Meaning relationships
Synonyms: beefy, husky, strapping, buirdly
Antonyms: none provided
History
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.
Etymology tree English burl Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Germanic *-gaz Proto-West Germanic *-g Old English -iġ Middle English -y English -y English burly From burl + -y.
Across languages
Translations
47 source translations are retained for this English entry.
