chubby

Formschubbier, chubbiest

Pluralchubbies

1. 1
   adjective

   Of a person, a little overweight, so that the body looks plump, rounded, and soft.

   He was a chubby kid who grew into a tall, skinny teenager.

   She got a little chubbier after she quit the swim team.

   Similarplump, chunky, tubby, podgy

   Oppositethin, skinny, slim, slender

   Note

   Roundness is built into the word: it comes from chub, a short, thick fish used as bait, whose name goes back to an older word for a lump, heap or mass. People were being called chubs, meaning lazy, by 1558, and chubby itself is on record from 1611. Today it describes shape, not character, and it compares regularly as chubbier and chubbiest.

2. 2
   plump (body part)adjective

   Of a part of the body, carrying a moderate amount of fat.

   The toddler grabbed the spoon with chubby little fingers.

   Her face has lost the chubby cheeks she had in her school photos.

   Similarplump, chunky, podgy

   Oppositethin, skinny, bony

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A person who is plump and slightly overweight.

   In every group of friends, the chubby always seems to be the one asked to hold the coats.

   The catalog offered jeans cut for slims, regulars and chubbies.

   Note

   In the 1940s the noun was a clothing size as well as a description. Girls' and Teens' Merchandiser in 1947 writes of girl and teen chubbies, and R. Duffy Lewis and Dorothy Stote define the chubby as a girl too stout for the regular 7 to 14 range, with clothes styled to give her better proportions. The plural is chubbies.

4. 4
   erectionnounslangcountable

   An erection of the penis, especially one that is short and thick.

   The comedian joked that the new sports car gave him a chubby.

   Halfway through the slow dance, he felt a chubby coming on and quickly excused himself.

   Similarboner, erection

   Note

   The slang borrows the short, rounded image of the everyday adjective, and its tone is comic and mildly crude. Talladega Nights (2006) plays it for laughs when a character blurts out that he has one. Like boner, it belongs to joking talk; in polite company or anything medical, erection is the plain word.

5. 5
   gay mannounslangcountable

   A gay man with a heavy build, from somewhat overweight to obese.

   He met his boyfriend, a cheerful chubby with a big laugh, on a gay dating app.

   The gay bar downtown throws a monthly party for chubbies and the men who admire them.

   Note

   Gay slang takes the noun for anyone plump and narrows it to one kind of man. The meaning lives chiefly in gay speech, and outside it the word falls back to its general sense, so the setting tells a listener which is meant. Like most slang, it belongs to casual talk; the plural is chubbies.

6. 6
   fur jacketnouncountable

   A type of fur jacket with thick padding.

   She wore a fox fur chubby over her black evening dress.

   The vintage shop had two fur chubbies hanging in the window.

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