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Synonyms

leathery

American  
[leth-uh-ree] / ˈlɛð ə ri /

adjective

  1. like leather in appearance or texture; tough and flexible.

leathery British  
/ ˈlɛðərɪ /

adjective

  1. having the appearance or texture of leather, esp in toughness

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • leatheriness noun

Etymology

Origin of leathery

First recorded in 1545–55; leather + -y 1

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.

One of my favorite passages captures Mr. Haskell’s first encounter, in Australia, with a Moreton Bay fig tree, its thick, leathery foliage crowded by figbirds longing for the tree’s fruits.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 17, 2026

Swell sharks depend on kelp to lay their leathery eggs, making them vulnerable to kelp forest loss.

From BBC • Oct. 14, 2025

First, one must peel back its leathery skin, which, when ripe, is a beautiful shade of pinkish-red, sometimes with faint streaks of gold or light green.

From Salon • Sep. 6, 2025

“I haven’t had to alter my body in that way,” says Strong, who underwent a doctor-supervised “starvation diet” and a regimen of tanning booth visits and biweekly spray tans to match Cohn’s notoriously leathery look.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 7, 2024

Grant “in his sixties with leathery dark skin seemed old,” Bruce said.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

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.