muscular
Language: English
Part of speech: adj
Pronunciation: ipa: /ˈmʌs.kjʊl.ə/
ipa: /ˈmʌs.kjə.lɚ/
rhymes: -ʌskjʊlə(ɹ)
Forms: form: more muscular
form: most muscular
Etymology: Late 17th century; from muscle (Latin mūsculus) + -ar. Compare French musculaire.
Senses: examples: text: 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.
ref: 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:
glosses: Of, relating to, or connected with muscles.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 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:
synonyms: athletic
beefy
brawny
husky
lusty
muscled
muscly
powerful
sinewy
strapping
strong
glosses: Brawny, thewy, having strength.
synonyms: beefy
brawny
buff
husky
musclebound
muscled
muscly
powerfully built
swole
well-built
glosses: Having large, well-developed muscles.
examples: text: Future prime ministers may struggle to replicate the sort of muscular countrywide support that [Narendra] Modi was able to earn.
ref: 2014 July 9, Samanth Subramanian, “India after English?”, in The New York Review of Books, archived from the original on 10 Sep 2019:
text: 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.
ref: 2025 February 26, Aziz Huq, “Conservatives on the Supreme Court May Not Fully Align With Trump”, in Politico:
text: Playing out now, with Florida leading, is one of the most muscular policing movements in modern times.
ref: 2025 May 13, Patrik Jonsson, “Beat cops to game wardens, Florida expands ‘army’ of immigration enforcers”, in The Christian Science Monitor:
synonyms: vigorous
glosses: Robust, strong.
examples: text: muscular wine
glosses: Full-bodied
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
muscular Judaism
muscularly
muscularness
muscular palate
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
trimuscular
undermuscular
unimuscular
unmuscular
Related terms: musculature
musculo-
myo-