adjective
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like beef
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informal muscular; brawny
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informal fleshy; obese
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of beefy
Explanation
Someone who's beefy has a big, dense, muscular body. Your beefy, loud-voiced gym teacher might turn out to be a sweet and thoughtful person. The adjective beefy is a bit derogatory — in other words, it's not exactly used as a compliment. If you describe a person as beefy, you imply that not only is he large, strong, and brawny, he might also be somewhat dense. You could also use the word to mean "tasting like beef," although that's much less common. The word dates from 1743, from the sense of "human muscle."
Vocabulary lists containing beefy
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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.
When a beefy bad guy who was about to squish a normal-sized good guy received a crippling blow to the scrotum, I laughed.
From Slate • Jun. 11, 2026
In that spirit, Nissan plans to start selling in China a beefy off-road SUV called the Terrano within two years.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
At the start of this year, beefy pickups and SUVs were back in favor on Wall Street.
From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026
There was an ambivalent, if not stone cold, attitude towards the beefy Californian.
From BBC • Sep. 25, 2025
Clarence and Clement, the beefy twins who headed up security for the Lemoncello Library, marched into the Rotunda Reading Room flanked by six robotic carts loaded down with United States Postal Service mail bins.
From "Mr. Lemoncello's Library Olympics" by Chris Grabenstein
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.
