strapping
1 Americanadjective
-
powerfully built; robust.
-
large; whopping.
adjective
Etymology
Origin of strapping1
First recorded in 1650–60; strap + -ing 2
Origin of strapping2
Explanation
When someone is strapping, they're strikingly strong looking. Why don't you ask those strapping friends of yours to help you carry that piano up the stairs? The adjective strapping usually describe someone who appears to be young, muscular, and robust. When it was first used in the 17th century, it almost always referred to a tall, sturdy woman. Today, it's more often used for young men. Strapping is part of an odd category of adjectives meaning "large" which are formed from violent verbs — to strap is to "beat with a strap." Others are whopping and spanking.
Vocabulary lists containing strapping
Vigorous Vocab: Synonyms for "Strong"
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The Odyssey
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The Fault in Our Stars
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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.
In the early 1990s, he got into parasailing, strapping tourists into parachutes and towing them behind a speed boat.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026
Why people are strapping cameras on their bodies to do chores.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 13, 2026
Her jealousy is delicious when Skarsgård’s strapping wooden groom makes the other men look small, telling Colman that she’s “the reason I live and breathe.”
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 30, 2026
In the second set, with Alcaraz hampered by a hamstring injury which required strapping, Sinner began to use more drop shots and it was notably one which saved a break point in the seventh game.
From BBC • Nov. 16, 2025
“Allow me,” one of the policemen offers, strapping his weapon over his shoulder and rolling up his sleeves.
From "Before We Were Free" by Julia Alvarez
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.
