# muscular
## English
### Etymology

Late 17th century from musculous +‎ -ar.

### Pronunciation

* (Received Pronunciation) IPA: /ˈmʌs.kjʊl.ə/
** Audio (Southern England):(file)
* (General American, Canada) IPA: /ˈmʌs.kjə.lɚ/
* Rhymes: -ʌskjʊlə(ɹ)

### Adjective

muscular (comparative more muscular, superlative most muscular)
* (relational) Of, relating to, or connected with muscles.
** 1912 February–July, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Under the Moons of Mars”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as “The Escape of the Dead”, in A Princess of Mars, Chicago, Ill.: A[lexander] C[aldwell] McClurg & Co., 1917 October, →OCLC, page 18:It was an effort of the mind, of the will, of the nerves; not muscular, for I could not move even so much as my little finger, but none the less mighty for all that.
* Brawny, thewy, having strength.
    Synonyms: athletic, beefy, brawny, husky, lusty, muscled, muscly, powerful, strapping, strong
** 1843 December 19, Charles Dickens, “Stave Two. The First of the Three Spirits.”, in A Christmas Carol. In Prose. Being a Ghost Story of Christmas, London: Chapman & Hall, […], →OCLC, page 43:It was a strange figure—like a child: yet not so like a child as like an old man, [...] The arms were very long and muscular; the hands the same, as if its hold were of uncommon strength.
* Having large, well-developed muscles.
    Synonyms: beefy, brawny, buff, husky, musclebound, muscled, muscly, powerfully built, swole, well-built
* (figurative) Robust, strong.
    Synonym: vigorous
** 2014 July 9, Samanth Subramanian, “India after English?”, in The New York Review of Books‎, archived from the original on 10 September 2019:Future prime ministers may struggle to replicate the sort of muscular countrywide support that [Narendra] Modi was able to earn.
** 2025 February 26, Aziz Huq, “Conservatives on the Supreme Court May Not Fully Align With Trump”, in Politico:The conservative movement faces real internal contradictions. On the one hand, there is deep skepticism of Washington-based power — think of the tea party and its “Don’t tread on me” bumper stickers. On the other, there is an eager embrace of a muscular view of the presidency for Trump, and before him, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney.
* Full-bodied
    muscular wine

#### Derived terms

* Becker muscular dystrophy
* bimuscular
* cardiomuscular
* corticomuscular
* cutaneomuscular
* dermomuscular
* elastomuscular
* electromuscular
* epimuscular
* epitheliomuscular
* extramuscular
* faciomuscular
* faradomuscular
* fibromuscular
* hepatocardiomuscular
* hypermuscular
* idiomuscular
* intermuscular
* intramuscular
* ligamentomuscular
* most muscular
* muscular Christian
* muscular Christianity
* muscular dystrophy
* muscular endurance
* muscularity
* muscularize
* muscularly
* muscularness
* muscular pile
* muscular stomach
* nervomuscular
* neuromuscular
* nonmuscular
* osseomuscular, osteomuscular
* overmuscular
* paramuscular
* perimuscular
* premuscular
* promuscular
* psychoneuromuscular
* retromuscular
* seromuscular
* skeletomuscular
* spinal muscular atrophies
* spinal muscular atrophy
* submuscular
* supramuscular
* tendinomuscular, tendomuscular
* transmuscular
* undermuscular
* unimuscular
* unmuscular

#### Related terms

* musculature
* musculo-

#### Translations

    The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

### See also

* myo-

### References

* “muscular”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
* “muscular”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.

## Catalan
### Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin or New Latin mūsculāris.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Central) [mus.kuˈlar]
* IPA: (Balearic) [mus.kuˈla]
* IPA: (Valencia) [mus.kuˈlaɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ

### Adjective

muscular m or f (masculine and feminine plural musculars)
* (relational) muscle; muscular

#### Related terms

* múscul

### Further reading

* “muscular” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
* “muscular”, in Gran Diccionari de la Llengua Catalana, Grup Enciclopèdia Catalana, 2025
* “muscular” in Diccionari normatiu valencià, Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua.
* “muscular” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.

## Galician
### Adjective

muscular m or f (plural musculares)
* muscular (of, relating to, or connected with muscles)

#### Related terms

* músculo

### Further reading

* “muscular”, in Dicionario da Real Academia Galega (in Galician), A Coruña: Royal Galician Academy, 2012–2025

## Interlingua
### Adjective

muscular (not comparable)
* muscular

#### Related terms

* musculo

## Portuguese
### Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin and New Latin mūsculāris.

### Pronunciation

* (Brazil) IPA: /mus.kuˈlaʁ/ [mus.kuˈlah]
* (Brazil) IPA: /mus.kuˈlaʁ/ [mus.kuˈlah]
** (São Paulo) IPA: /mus.kuˈlaɾ/
** (Rio de Janeiro) IPA: /muʃ.kuˈlaʁ/ [muʃ.kuˈlaχ]
** (Southern Brazil) IPA: /mus.kuˈlaɻ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /muʃ.kuˈlaɾ/
* (Portugal) IPA: /muʃ.kuˈlaɾ/
** (Southern Portugal) IPA: /muʃ.kuˈla.ɾi/
* Hyphenation: mus‧cu‧lar

### Adjective

muscular m or f (plural musculares)
* muscular (of or relating to muscles)

#### Related terms

* músculo

## Romanian
### Etymology

Borrowed from French musculaire.

### Adjective

muscular m or n (feminine singular musculară, masculine plural musculari, feminine and neuter plural musculare)
* muscular

#### Declension
## Spanish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin or New Latin mūsculāris.

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /muskuˈlaɾ/ [mus.kuˈlaɾ]
* Rhymes: -aɾ
* Syllabification: mus‧cu‧lar

### Adjective

muscular m or f (masculine and feminine plural musculares)
* muscular (of, relating to, or connected with muscles)

#### Derived terms

* distrofia muscular
* fibra muscular
* fortalecimiento muscular
* intermuscular
* perimuscular
* tejido muscular
* tono muscular

#### Related terms

* músculo

### Verb

muscular (first-person singular present musculo, first-person singular preterite musculé, past participle musculado)
* (intransitive) to build muscle mass by exercising

#### Conjugation

$^1$Mostly obsolete, now mainly used in legal language. $^2$Argentine and Uruguayan voseo prefers the tú form for the present subjunctive.
These forms are generated automatically and may not actually be used. Pronoun usage varies by region.

### Further reading

* “muscular”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10