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by Kate Woodford

Today’s post and my next one focus on words for talking about physical strength and its opposite, weakness. This first one looks at words for people (and animals) who are physically strong and physically weak.

Someone who is strong, fit and good at sports may be described as athletic:

He was proud of his broad shoulders and athletic figure.

We use the adjective powerful for people and animals who are physically very strong with large muscles:

These dogs have powerful shoulders and strong jaws.

Similarly, a person or animal who is muscular or (UK) muscly has large, strong muscles. The adjective muscled means the same and is often used after adverbs such as ‘heavily’, ‘powerfully’ and ‘well’:

She has the muscular physique of an athlete half her age.

He has a cyclist’s muscly legs.

I noticed his thick neck and heavily muscled shoulders.

Big, strong muscles that stick out in a round shape may be described as bulging. Stomach muscles that are so developed, they form raised lines across someone’s stomach are sometimes referred to humourously as a six-pack.

A sleeveless shirt showed off his bulging biceps.

I don’t go to the gym to get bulging muscles or a six-pack.

Various informal adjectives describe a person with very obviously strong, well-developed muscles as a result of a lot of exercise. You might say they are jacked, ripped, shredded or, in UK English, hench:

Have you been to the gym recently, bro? You’re ripped!

If you want to get shredded, these are the five best exercises.

Of course, strong doesn’t always mean large. Two adjectives – wiry and sinewy – describe the sort of person who has strong, effective muscles although they are thin:

He had sinewy limbs and a flat stomach.

She has the wiry frame of a long-distance runner.

Moving on to words for ‘weak’ (of which there are fewer), two adjectives that describe someone who is thin and weak are puny and, in UK English, the informal word weedy. ‘Puny’ can also be used to describe thin, weak arms and legs:

He’s embarrassed about his puny legs.

I was a weedy child and hopeless at sport.

Meanwhile, someone who is weak and without energy, usually as a result of illness or age, is sometimes described as feeble, and the adjective frail describes an old or ill person who is weak and thin:

These days I’m too feeble to carry my own shopping.

Now in her nineties and troubled by heart problems, she looks increasingly frail.

I’ll finish with a nice simile. You can emphasize how strong someone is by saying they are as strong as an ox:

He was tall and broad and as strong as an ox.

What is the equivalent expression in your language?