adjective
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resembling or consisting of bone or bones
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having many bones
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having prominent bones
bony cheeks
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thin or emaciated
a bony old woman
Other Word Forms
- boniness noun
Etymology
Origin of bony
First recorded in 1350–1400, bony is from the Middle English word boni. See bone, -y 1
Explanation
Someone who's bony is very thin. Your cat may have been plump when he was young, and become bony as he got older. If you're so skinny that your bones are prominent, your friends might call you bony and encourage you to eat more. Another way to use the adjective bony is to mean "like bone" or "containing bone." Some animals have bony shells or protective plates — and you might not enjoy your fish dinner if it's way too bony. Bony shares a root with bone, the Old English ban, "bone or tusk."
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.
Fishermen and chefs report that Asian carp are actually delicious, though they are so bony they don’t make good filets.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026
The fossils come from a 249 million year old marine community that included extinct reptiles, amphibians, bony fish, and sharks.
From Science Daily • Dec. 30, 2025
The holiday’s corpulent, white-bearded dandy arrived even later, his schmaltzy persona skimmed from bony St. Nicholas between Reconstruction and 1931, when Coca-Cola debuted its iconic, brandy-flushed Santa Claus.
From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 25, 2025
Measuring about five metres long and weighing two tonnes, the four-legged beasts had large heads, adorned with a distinctive bony frill and three horns.
From BBC • May 19, 2025
His bony ankles going into sneakers without socks.
From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins
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.
