chubby

English

Etymology

Recorded since 1611, from chub (“short, thick fish species used as bait"; used metaphorically since 1558 for "lazy person”), an assibilated form of cub (“a lump, heap, mass”) and cob, from Middle English *cubbe (found only in derivative cubbel (“a block to which an animal is tethered”)), from Old Norse kubbr, kumbr (“block, stump, log”) and/or Old Norse kumben (“stumpy”), equivalent to chub +‎ -y. Cognate with dialectal Swedish kubbug (“fat, plump, chubby”). More at chub.

Pronunciation

• enPR: chŭbʹē, IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃʌbi/

  • Audio (General Australian):

    (file)

  • Audio (US):

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• (Northern England, Ireland) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃʊbi/
• Rhymes: -ʌbi

Adjective

chubby (comparative chubbier, superlative chubbiest)

1. Of a person: slightly overweight, somewhat fat, and hence plump, rounded, and soft.

   Synonyms: chunky, plump, podgy, tubby

   Obviously the chubby child was eating too much.

   • 2010, Marsha Hubler, The Long Ride Home, Zonderkidz, →ISBN, page 97:

     Slowly Skye wrapped her arms around the chubby woman's frame and rested her head on Rita's chest drenched with perspiration.

2. Of a body part: containing a moderate amount of fat.

   Synonyms: chunky, plump, podgy

   It’s quite normal for babies to have chubby cheeks.

   • 1867, Ivan Sergheïevitch Turgenef [i.e., Ivan Turgenev], chapter I, in Eugene Schuyler, transl., Fathers and Sons […], New York, N.Y.: Leypoldt and Holt, →OCLC, page 1:

     The servant to whom he put this question was a young fellow with chubby cheeks, small, dull eyes, and a round chin, covered with a colorless down.

Derived terms

• chubber
• chubbily
• chubbiness
• chubby bunny

 

Translations

of a person, somewhat fat

• Armenian: թմբլիկ (hy) (tʻmblik)
• Azerbaijani: çağ (az), dolğun, ətli-canlı, toppuş, koppuş
• Bulgarian: пухкав (bg) (puhkav)
• Catalan: grassonet (ca), grosset
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 豐滿 / 丰满 (zh) (fēngmǎn)

• Dutch: mollig (nl), volslank (nl)
• Esperanto: diketa
• Finnish: pullea (fi), pulska (fi)
• French: potelé (fr) m, dodu (fr) m
• Galician: repoludo (gl)
• German: mollig (de)
• Hebrew: שְׁמַנְמַן (sh'manmán)
• Italian: grassoccio (it), cicciuto, paffutello
• Japanese: ぽってり (potteri), ぽちゃぽちゃ (pochapocha)
• Macedonian: на́леан (nálean), ту́нтурест (túnturest), по́лничок (pólničok), дебе́личок (debéličok), ши́шкав (šíškav), по́лникав (pólnikav)
• Maori: māretireti, pukunati, makune
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: lubben m or f

• Persian: تپل (fa) (topol), کپل (fa) (kopol), لنبه (fa) (lonbe)
• Plautdietsch: druglich
• Polish: pulchny (pl), pyzaty (pl)
• Portuguese: rechonchudo (pt) m, gorducho (pt) m, roliço (pt) m
• Romanian: plinuț (ro), grăsuț (ro), durduliu (ro) (regional), rotunjor (ro)
• Russian: пу́хленький (ru) (púxlenʹkij), пу́хлый (ru) (púxlyj), круглоли́цый (ru) (kruglolícyj), полнощёкий (ru) (polnoščókij), упи́танный (ru) (upítannyj), то́лстый (ru) (tólstyj), пуза́тый (ru) (puzátyj), корена́стый (ru) (korenástyj), то́лстенький (ru) (tólstenʹkij)
• Spanish: gordito, rechoncho (es), regordete (colloquial), rellenito (colloquial), metido en carnes
• Swedish: knubbig (sv), mullig (sv)
• Thai: เจ้าเนื้อ
• Tày: bẻo bựt
• Ukrainian: круглоли́ций m (kruhlolýcyj), круглови́дий m (kruhlovýdyj), повнощо́кий m (povnoščókyj), повнови́дий m (povnovýdyj)

of a body part, containing a moderate amount of fat

• Bulgarian: закръглен (bg) (zakrǎglen)
• Dutch: mollig (nl)
• Finnish: pullea (fi)
• French: dodu (fr) m, potelé (fr) m
• Italian: paffuto (it), pienotto
• Spanish: morcillón (es)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} שמנמן m (shmanman), ^{(please verify)} שמנמנה f (shmanmana)

Noun

chubby (plural chubbies)

1. A chubby, plump person
   • 1949, R. Duffy Lewis, Dorothy Stote, How to build an infant's, girls' and teens' wear business: a manual for retailers and prospective shop owners:

     The chubby is the girl who cannot be fitted in the regular 7 to 14 size range because she is too stout. Sizes for these girls are 7*4 to 141/^, and are specially styled and designed to give them better proportions.

   • 2007, Jackie Guerra, Under Construction: How I've Gained and Lost Millions of Dollars and Hundreds of Pounds, New American Library, →ISBN:

     The chubby is especially taken for granted: "Hey, can you watch my purse while I dance?"

2. (chiefly gay slang) An overweight or obese gay man.
3. (slang) A penile erection, especially when short and with a large circumference; a boner.
   • 2006, w:Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby:

     Hey, Lucius, I just wanted to share a piece of personal information with you. I've got a... a chubby right now because [starts screaming] This is one of the most awesome experiences of my life!

4. A type of thickly-padded fur jacket.

Derived terms

• chub (plump person)
• chubby chaser

Translations

chubby person

• Armenian: թմբլիկ (hy) (tʻmblik)
• Dutch: dikkerdje (nl) n
• Finnish: pullukka (fi)
• French: dodu (fr) m
• German: Dickerchen (de) n
• Maori: pukunati

erection — see boner