BONY Synonyms: 137 Similar and Opposite Words

bony

adjective

ˈbō-nē

variants also boney

Definition of bony

as in skinny

having a noticeably small amount of body fat that bony old horse may have been deliberately starved

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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 Its bony head armor was more like that of Asian ankyloaurs than ones from North America. — Eric Betz, Discover Magazine, 19 July 2018 See All Example Sentences for bony

Recent Examples of Synonyms for bony

Adjective

Related Stories Arriving to Southwark Crown Court, Brand wore a grey suit, white shirt and grey skinny tie.

— Ellise Shafer, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
On a Wednesday afternoon at Ralphs on Pico Boulevard, a skinny, six-foot-tall tower of sensors rolled through the aisles.

— Ella Chakarian, Los Angeles Times, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of skinny

Adjective

Centered on the town of Bawiti, this remote depression in Egypt’s Western Desert is surrounded by barren hills, date palms, hot springs and sweeping desert landscapes.

— Jamie Carter, Space.com, 10 Oct. 2026
In Samuel Beckett's tragicomedy, two men wait beside a barren tree for someone called Godot who never arrives.

— Anniek Bao, CNBC, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of barren

Adjective

Bajaria may also have hit thin ice with Sarandos after the streamer won just 16 Primetime Emmy Awards this year — its worst showing since 2016 and down from 30 in 2025.

— Matt Donnelly, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
It was designed with a column, sheath silhouette, with sequins, thin spaghetti straps and a midlength skirt.

— Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 15 Oct. 2026

Definition of thin

Adjective

As filmmakers, they were drawn to the unexpected beauty of the desolate, postindustrial landscape.

— Kim Velsey, Curbed, 9 Oct. 2026
Obscenities, the referee’s whistle, and the thud of boots into balls—and sometimes shins—easily carry across these desolate fields.

— Vanda Mayer, New Yorker, 6 Oct. 2026

Definition of desolate

Adjective

Fields of solar panels blanket parts of Inner Mongolia, while the slender silhouettes of wind turbines spin above grazing sheep.

— Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 13 Oct. 2026
This one was carved from a block of limestone and features a slender face with a long nose and a tiny, smiling mouth.

— Alex Greenberger, ARTnews.com, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of slender

Adjective

The impoverished Reds work as slave labor in the mines of Mars, while the super-strong Golds rule the solar system and war on each other.

— Jordan Moreau, Variety, 16 Oct. 2026
Prosecutors accuse him of participating in schemes to divert hundreds of millions of dollars from Venezuelan government programs intended to provide housing, food and other necessities to the country’s impoverished population.

— Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 12 Oct. 2026

Definition of impoverished

Adjective

The question here is no longer whether routine HR tasks can be automated, but whether a lean enterprise can entirely decouple structural governance from human oversight.

— Syed Ahmad, Forbes.com, 20 Oct. 2026
Now after some very lean years, UConn football is being talked about.

— Eric Womack, Hartford Courant, 18 Oct. 2026

Definition of lean

Adjective

Measles usually kills two or three people in every 1,000 cases, the WHO says, but the disease can be more deadly in poorer nations because of factors such as malnutrition.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 18 Oct. 2026
That receiver sends that poor defender into next week at the pylon.

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of poor

Browse Nearby Words

bon voyages

bony

boo

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“Bony.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bony. Accessed 21 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of bony

adjective

Example Sentences

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