Hairy

/ˈhɛə.ɹi/

Synonyms for "hairy" (174 found)

Ranked by relevance and common usage.

Choosing the right synonym

  • Closest matches in this entry: hirsute, abstruse, arduous, asperous, barbellate.
  • Sentence evidence is available for hairy, so synonym choice can be checked against real usage rather than a flat word list.
  • Ranking signals come from wordnet, opengloss, moby, derived_reverse, and related lexical sources.

Synonym selection checklist

  • Match the part of speech before comparing meanings.
  • Check whether the synonym changes intensity, formality, or emotional tone.
  • Read the replacement inside the full sentence, not just beside "hairy".
  • Prefer the clearest word over the most unusual word when writing for speed or comprehension.

When not to replace "hairy"

Keep "hairy" when the sentence already sounds natural, when a synonym would add unintended emphasis, or when readers need the most familiar wording. A synonym should clarify or sharpen the message, not simply make the sentence look more varied.

If two options seem close, choose the one that best matches the audience and purpose of the sentence.

Replacement workflow

1. Preserve meaning

Choose a synonym only if it keeps the core idea of "hairy" intact in the sentence you are editing.

2. Tune tone

Check whether the replacement sounds more formal, casual, emotional, technical, or forceful than the original word.

3. Re-read context

Read the full sentence after the swap. Keep the synonym only when the sentence becomes clearer or more precise.

Review note: Synonym lists are ranked with lexical data and reviewed for practical writing value. Use the comparison notes, sentence evidence, and source labels together; a high-ranking synonym can still be wrong when the audience, register, or grammar changes.

Final fit check

After choosing a replacement for "hairy", read the sentence once for meaning and once for rhythm. The best synonym should feel natural in the full sentence, not only accurate in a word list.

If the synonym makes the sentence slower, vaguer, or more dramatic than intended, keep "hairy" or choose a simpler alternative from the closest-match group.

Related word relations

OpenGloss and ConceptNet supply richer edges like generalizations, collocations, and derivations.

7 relation types

More general

3 entries
appearance attributerisk descriptorsurface feature

More specific

8 entries
hairy incidenthairy leafhairy mammalhairy roothairy situationpubescent leafpubescent stemtrichome bearing surface

Collocations

6 entries
hairy caterpillarhairy chesthairy leafhairy problemhairy roothairy situation

Inflections

2 entries

Derivations

2 entries

Antonyms

1 entries

similar

53 entries

Showing 16 of 53 words.

Translations

116 translations across 55 languages.

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Ancient Greek

4 entries
  • βλοσυρός adj (of a person)
  • δασύς adj (of a person)
  • δασύς adj (of an animal)
  • πολύτριχος adj (of a person)

Arabic

1 entries
  • مشعر adj (of a person)

Armenian

3 entries
  • բրդոտ adj (of an animal)
  • թավամազ adj (of an animal)
  • մազոտ adj (of a person)

Aromanian

1 entries
  • piros adj (of a person)

Belarusian

1 entries
  • валаса́ты adj (of a person)

Bulgarian

2 entries
  • космат adj (of a person)
  • космат adj (of an animal)

Catalan

2 entries
  • pelut adj (of a person)
  • pilós adj (of a person)

Chinese Mandarin

3 entries
  • 多毛的 adj (of a person)
  • 毛茸茸的 adj (of a person)
  • 長毛的 /长毛的 adj (of a person)

Danish

3 entries
  • behåret adj (of a person)
  • håret adj (of a person)
  • lodden adj (of an animal)

Dutch

3 entries
  • behaard adj (of a person)
  • harig adj (of a person)
  • harig adj (of an animal)

Esperanto

1 entries
  • vila adj (of an animal)

Estonian

2 entries
  • karvane adj (of a person)
  • karvane adj (of an animal)

Finnish

2 entries
  • karvainen adj (of a person)
  • karvainen adj (of an animal)

French

1 entries
  • poilu adj (of a person)

Friulian

1 entries
  • pelôs adj (of a person)

Galician

3 entries
  • cabeludo adj (of a person)
  • peludo adj (of a person)
  • peludo adj (of an animal)

Georgian

1 entries
  • თმიანი adj (of a person)

German

3 entries
  • behaart adj (of a person)
  • haarig adj (of a person)
  • pelzartig adj (of an animal)

Greek

1 entries
  • τριχωτός adj (of a person)

Hebrew

1 entries
  • שעיר adj (of a person)

Hungarian

2 entries
  • szőrös adj (of a person)
  • szőrös adj (of an animal)

Ingrian

2 entries
  • karvain adj (of a person)
  • karvain adj (of an animal)

Italian

1 entries
  • peloso adj (of a person)

Japanese

2 entries
  • 毛むくじゃらの adj (of a person)
  • 毛深い adj (of a person)

Kapampangan

4 entries
  • mabuac (Baculud) adj (of a person)
  • mabuak adj (of a person)
  • mabuwak (Wawa) adj (of a person)
  • mabwak adj (of a person)

Latin

4 entries
  • hispidus adj (of an animal)
  • pilōsus adj (of a person)
  • pilōsus adj (of an animal)
  • villōsus adj (of a person)

Latvian

3 entries
  • matains adj (of a person)
  • spalvains adj (of a person)
  • spalvains adj (of an animal)

Macedonian

4 entries
  • вла́кнест adj (of a person)
  • вла́кнест adj (of an animal)
  • ко́смат adj (of a person)
  • ко́смат adj (of an animal)

Maltese

1 entries
  • muswaf adj (of a person)

Marathi

1 entries
  • केसाळ adj (of an animal)

Māori

2 entries
  • pūhuruhuru adj (of a person)
  • tuahuru adj (of a person)

Norman

1 entries
  • pouailu adj (of a person)

Norwegian Bokmål

4 entries
  • behåra adj (of a person)
  • behåret adj (of a person)
  • håret adj (of a person)
  • hårete adj (of a person)

Occitan

1 entries
  • pelut adj (of a person)

Old English

1 entries
  • rūh adj (of a person)

Persian

1 entries
  • پرمو adj (of a person)

Plautdietsch

1 entries
  • hoarich adj (of a person)

Polish

3 entries
  • owłosiony adj (of a person)
  • włochaty adj (of a person)
  • włochaty adj (of an animal)

Portuguese

2 entries
  • peludo adj (of a person)
  • peludo adj (of an animal)

Romanian

1 entries
  • păros adj (of a person)

Russian

2 entries
  • волоса́тый adj (of a person)
  • мохна́тый adj (of an animal)

Sardinian

2 entries
  • pilosu adj (of a person)
  • pirosu adj (of a person)

Scottish Gaelic

2 entries
  • molach adj (of a person)
  • molach adj (of an animal)

Serbo-Croatian

1 entries
  • dlakav adj (of a person)

Slovak

2 entries
  • chlpatý adj (of an animal)
  • vlasatý adj (of a person)

South Efate

1 entries
  • ululu adj (of a person)

Spanish

4 entries
  • lanoso adj (of an animal)
  • lanudo adj (of an animal)
  • lanuginoso adj (of a person)
  • peloso adj (of a person)

Sranan Tongo

1 entries
  • fugufugu adj (of an animal)

Swedish

2 entries
  • hårig adj (of a person)
  • hårig adj (of an animal)

Tagalog

2 entries
  • mabalahibo adj (of an animal)
  • mabuhok adj (of a person)

Tibetan

1 entries
  • སྤུ་མང་པོ adj (of a person)

Turkish

3 entries
  • kürklü adj (of an animal)
  • kıllı adj (of a person)
  • postlu adj (of an animal)

Ukrainian

2 entries
  • волоса́тий adj (of a person)
  • волоха́тий adj (of a person)

Welsh

1 entries
  • blewog adj (of a person)

Yiddish

1 entries
  • האָריק adj (of a person)

Sample sentences

20 total sentences available.

Tatoeba + Wiktionary

You don't have to go getting so hairy about such a small thing.

Source: tatoeba (41334)

I'm scared of big, black, hairy tarantulas!

Source: tatoeba (513077)

Tom doesn't have hairy arms.

Source: tatoeba (1026174)

Tom raised his hairy fist.

Source: tatoeba (1566887)

Showing 4 of 20 available sentences.

Common questions

What are the closest synonyms for "hairy"?

Closest matches include hirsute, abstruse, arduous, asperous, barbellate.

How should I check whether a synonym fits "hairy"?

Compare the replacement against real sentence context. This entry includes sample sentences so you can check tone, grammar, and meaning before swapping words.

More for "hairy"