variants
also boney
1
as in thin
having a noticeably small amount of body fat
that bony old horse may have been deliberately starved
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in barren
producing inferior or only a small amount of vegetation
bony hills from which sheepherders eked out a meager existence
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bony
Then stand or sit while bending forward at the waist, pinching the soft part of the nose below the bony portion on both sides for 10 minutes.
—
Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Jan. 2023
Riders follow the instructions of Redbeard (given via onboard audio), which include finding and counting gems along the shore, looking out for bony opponents in Skeleton Valley and participating in a seaworthy singalong near the finale.
—Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2023
Santiago Calatrava is best known for bridges that leap and budgets that soar, for vast and bony white-steel structures that evoke high-tech ruins of the future and cause fiscal ruin in the present.
—Curbed, 6 Dec. 2022
There are two types of fish, cartilaginous and bony.
—Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 21 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for bony
Scott Lafee, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Jan. 2023
Riders follow the instructions of Redbeard (given via onboard audio), which include finding and counting gems along the shore, looking out for bony opponents in Skeleton Valley and participating in a seaworthy singalong near the finale.
—Dewayne Bevil, Orlando Sentinel, 11 Jan. 2023
Santiago Calatrava is best known for bridges that leap and budgets that soar, for vast and bony white-steel structures that evoke high-tech ruins of the future and cause fiscal ruin in the present.
—Curbed, 6 Dec. 2022
There are two types of fish, cartilaginous and bony.
—Orlando Mayorquin, USA TODAY, 21 Oct. 2022
See All Example Sentences for bony
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bony
Adjective
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Vogue’s Favorite Gold Necklaces Featured in this article With an endless array of iterations—from thin, barely-there metallic strands to bolder, statement-making chains that instantly command attention—gold chain necklaces are some of the best gold jewelry pieces to add to your collection.—
Samantha Solomon,
Vogue,
18 Sep. 2025
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Maternal health remains under-researched compared to other therapeutic areas, and the pharmaceutical pipeline is thin—just 91 compounds in development, versus thousands for areas like neurology or dermatology.—
Shelley Stewart III,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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At the time, only a handful of the university’s buildings were completed and the barren campus lacked landscaping.—
Ron Hasse,
Oc Register,
19 Sep. 2025
-
One of vultures in a barren tree.—
Madison E. Goldberg,
PEOPLE,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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This further shrank the already slender Republican House majority.—
W. James Antle III,
The Washington Examiner,
12 Sep. 2025
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There are several superstar cameos, and they’re nicely integrated into the movie’s slender plot.—
Stephanie Zacharek,
Time,
11 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The lock screen on the Mac remains a desolate place, relative to the same area in both iOS and iPadOS—this is still a no-notifications, no-widgets zone that exists only to keep your Mac locked.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
15 Sep. 2025
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While the rest of Burning Man celebrated, Kruglov lay prostrate on the ground at a faraway campsite in a comparatively desolate section of Black Rock City, his throat slashed, as a puddle of blood congealed around his lifeless body.—
Denver Nicks,
Rolling Stone,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Struggling to put on a pair of tight skinny jeans has become a thing of the past.—
Melody Kazel,
PEOPLE,
14 Sep. 2025
-
On a first-and-10 from the UC 34-yard line, Arnold took a shotgun snap and hit receiver Sean Lander on a skinny post for a 34-yard touchdown.—
Clark Fahrenthold,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
13 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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The poll also found that 51% of respondents perceive the current state of the economy as poor, and 61% express a lack of confidence that the economy will improve next year.—
Naomi Lim,
The Washington Examiner,
18 Sep. 2025
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Low User Adoption Due To Poor Onboarding The primary hurdle is often low user adoption due to poor onboarding and a steep learning curve.—
Expert Panel®,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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All of a sudden, the GTD takes on an entirely different, immediately noticeable character, low and lean and ready to carve through canyons with the best supercars.—
Michael Teo Van Runkle,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Designed to have a slightly more brutalist lean than the chair’s colonial origins, this option is for the maximalist at heart.—
Elissa Suh,
Architectural Digest,
17 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Not all of Mythopedia is so bleak—just my favorite parts.—
Dan Piepenbring,
Harpers Magazine,
19 Sep. 2025
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When kittens Sam and Frodo were found, survival odds were bleak.—
Teri Figueroa,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
18 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bony. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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