wiry

American  

[wahyuhr-ee] / ˈwaɪər i /

adjective

• wirier,
  comparative
• wiriest
  superlative

1. made of wire.

2. in the form of wire.

3. resembling wire, as in form, stiffness, etc..

   wiry grass.

4. lean and sinew.

   a wiry little person.

5. produced by or resembling the sound of a vibrating wire.

   wiry tones.

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wiry British  

/ ˈwaɪərɪ /

adjective

1. (of people or animals) slender but strong in constitution

2. made of or resembling wire, esp in stiffness

   wiry hair

3. (of a sound) produced by or as if by a vibrating wire

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wiriness
  noun
• wirily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• wirier
  comparative
• wiriest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of wiry

First recorded in 1580–90; wire + -y ¹

Explanation

You can describe someone who's fairly thin and athletic as wiry. While a linebacker on a football team is typically big and broad, a marathon runner is more likely to be wiry. The adjective wiry can be used in two different ways: first, to mean "lean and strong," like a wiry seven year-old gymnast. The second meaning is "resembling wire." You could describe your thick, impossibly curly hair as wiry, or the crazy coat of your terrier as wiry. In the late 1500s the word wiry meant "made of wire."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wiry wirier wiriest

Would they get the shadows of his wiry grin just right?

From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2026

On Fox News, Essayli, sporting a blue FBI windbreaker, hyped the arrest of Orellana, a quiet, wiry man with a long mane of coal-black hair.

From Salon ● Apr. 15, 2026

In these paintings, figures are defined by wiry contours and modeled with lean pigments in saturated hues.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 29, 2025

In his 70s now, wiry with sharp eyes, Yoo speaks hesitantly at first - but it comes back to him quickly.

From BBC ● Jul. 15, 2025

“Hey, look, Duke!” said the wiry terrier Fred immediately recognized as Scruffy.

From "Dog Squad" by Chris Grabenstein

My arms and legs had grown skinnier, wirier than ever before, but my stomach was rounding out and bloating, like Baby Joe’s and some of the other boys’.

From "Flying Through Water" by Mamle Wolo

Philip was taller, wirier, and quicker on his feet.

From Claire The Blind Love of a Blind Hero, By a Blind Author by Leslie Burton Blades

He was a man of about my own age and height, but slimmer and wirier.

From The Yeoman Adventurer by George W. Gough

I couldn’t help thinking that I never saw brawnier, wirier men than those young farmers who met Earl P— at his political meeting.

From The Cruise of the Land-Yacht "Wanderer" Thirteen Hundred Miles in my Caravan by Gordon Stables

Tom was of slighter build, and wirier, his skin much more pale.

From Gold in the Sky by Llewellyn

The skinniest, wiriest player on our team slipped behind the Keesler defense to urinate on the Airmen’s goal, an obvious foul.

From New York Times ● Aug. 18, 2021

It's the cutest, wiriest thing a man kin run aginst.

From The Frontiersman A Tale of the Yukon by H. A. (Hiram Alfred) Cody

He is the wiriest athlete I know—extraordinary physical strength for his size—and one of the cleverest rascals out as a politician.

From Marcella by Mrs. Humphry Ward

But one luckless day, as Featherhead was lolling in his hole, up came two boys with the friskiest, wiriest Scotch terrier you ever saw.

From Queer Little Folks by Harriet Beecher Stowe

Several hours of hard fighting then ensued, but in the end when the mustang was conquered he made the toughest and wiriest of cow-ponies.

From The Indians' Last Fight Or The Dull Knife Raid by Dennis Collins

Related Words

• agile
• athletic
• limber
• muscular
• sinewy
• strapping
• supple