muscular
Americanadjective
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of or relating to muscle or the muscles.
muscular strain.
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dependent on or affected by the muscles.
muscular strength.
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having well-developed muscles; brawny.
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vigorously and forcefully expressed, executed, performed, etc., as if by the use of a great deal of muscular power.
a muscular response to terrorism.
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broad and energetic, especially with the implication that subtlety and grace are lacking.
a muscular style.
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reflected in physical activity and work.
a muscular religion.
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Informal. having or showing power; powerful.
a muscular vehicle.
adjective
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having well-developed muscles; brawny
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of, relating to, or consisting of muscle
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of muscular
Explanation
If you're strong and athletic, with powerfully developed muscles, you can describe yourself as muscular. Weight lifters are muscular, and so is the Incredible Hulk. If your grandmother has worked as a cattle farmer her entire life, she is probably pretty muscular too. Anyone with strong muscles can be described as muscular. In the 1600's, the word simply meant "pertaining to muscles," but by the mid-1700's, muscular specifically referred to well-developed muscles. The root word is the Latin musculus, which, oddly enough, means both "muscle" and "little mouse."
Vocabulary lists containing muscular
Vigorous Vocab: Synonyms for "Strong"
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STAAR Biology: Biological Processes and Systems
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Organisms and Environments 5: Human Systems
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It was muscular and devastating, and we should do it.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 1, 2026
"Because women ages 80 and older are the fastest growing U.S. age group, the importance of monitoring and maintaining muscular strength will have huge public health implications in the coming decades," he says.
From Science Daily • May 12, 2026
As the Bank of Southwark went public in Philadelphia, investors hired muscular goons to sign their names into the subscription books conferring the right to buy shares.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 7, 2026
Arsenal expect Kai Havertz to play a part in their title run-in despite the forward suffering a muscular injury against Newcastle.
From BBC • Apr. 27, 2026
But the tall muscular man next to Leo Tilden—his assistant, Sven, probably—looked fairly perturbed.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
