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
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.
Throughout evolutionary history, the skin’s ability to form bony tissue has resurfaced again and again.
From Science Daily • May 21, 2026
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 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
She lifts Ahmed's shirt to reveal his wounds, his bony back a reminder of the hunger stalking the city.
From BBC • Oct. 1, 2025
Gwystyl wrung his bony hands, and his trembling features indeed held a look of deepest dread.
From "The Black Cauldron" by Lloyd Alexander
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.
