Sinewy

//ˈsɪnjuːi// adj

adj ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Tough; having strong sinews.

    "I haue beene wooed, as I intreat thee now, Euen by the ſterne, and direfull God of warre, VVhoſe ſinowie necke in battel nere did bow, VVho conquers where he comes in euery iarre; […]"

  2. 2
    Having or showing nervous strength. figuratively
  3. 3
    Possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful.

    "Worthy fellows, and like to prove most sinewy swordmen"

Adjective
  1. 1
    (of a person) possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful wordnet
  2. 2
    (of meat) full of sinews; especially impossible to chew wordnet
  3. 3
    consisting of tendons or resembling a tendon wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
brawnyable-bodiedacidathleticbitingbrawny

Antonyms

All antonyms
weak

Example

More examples

"Beside him lay a little child, with her round white arms encircling his brown sinewy neck; and her golden-haired head resting upon the breast of his velveteen tunic."

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English synwy, synewy, synowy (“tendonous”); equivalent to sinew + -y.

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.