Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Muscular and heavily built; robust and strong in appearance: Used to describe a person, typically a young man, who is tall, broad-shouldered, and physically powerful.

Usage

• The adjective strapping is used attributively (before a noun) or predicatively (after a linking verb like 'be' or 'look'). It has a positive connotation of health and strength.
• It is most commonly applied to young men or boys who are notably large and strong for their age.

Examples

Advanced Usage

• "strapping" as a modifier: Often used to emphasize the impressive physicality of youth.
  • The team's success was due in part to their strapping forward, who dominated the game.

Variants and Related Words

• Strap (verb): To fasten or secure with a strap. (Note: This is the base verb from which the adjective 'strapping' is derived, but it has a completely different meaning.)
• Strapping (noun, rare): The material used for straps; the act of fastening with a strap. (This usage is uncommon compared to the adjective.)

Synonyms

• Burly: Large and strong; heavily built.
• Husky: Big and strong; (of a voice) deep and hoarse.
• Beefy: Muscular and solid.
• Brawny: Physically strong; muscular.
• Robust: Strong and healthy; vigorous.

Antonyms

• Scrawny: Unattractively thin and bony.
• Skinny: Very thin.
• Frail: Weak and delicate.
• Slender: Gracefully thin.

Notes

• The term strapping is almost exclusively used to describe people, not objects.
• While the reference mentions 'buirdly' as a Scottish synonym, strapping itself is standard in all varieties of English.
• The adjective form discussed here is unrelated to the nominal meaning of "strapping" as a material or the act of tying with a strap.

Adjective

1. muscular and heavily built
   • a beefy wrestler
   • had a tall burly frame
   • clothing sizes for husky boys
   • a strapping boy of eighteen
   • `buirdly' is a Scottish term