adjective
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(of people or animals) slender but strong in constitution
-
made of or resembling wire, esp in stiffness
wiry hair
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(of a sound) produced by or as if by a vibrating wire
Other Word Forms
- wirily adverb
- wiriness noun
Etymology
Origin of wiry
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."
Vocabulary lists containing wiry
The One and Only Ivan
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Hatchet
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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.
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
The wiry Boon doles out his brash character’s reserves of vulnerability to stunning effect — Tommy is a difficult part and Boon knows how to make it revealing and suspenseful.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 6, 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
At 6ft 2in, the wiry Sheeraz, 25, towered over his 30-year-old opponent at the head-to head.
From BBC • Feb. 21, 2025
Suzanne and I were now rooming with another friend, Angela Kennedy, a wiry, fast-talking kid from Washington, D.C.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
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.
