chunky

American  

[chuhng-kee] / ˈtʃʌŋ ki /

adjective

chunkier, chunkiest

1. thick or stout; stocky.

2. in chunks.

3. full of chunks; coarse.

   chunky peanut butter; The soup was so chunky it was almost a stew.

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chunky British  

/ ˈtʃʌŋkɪ /

adjective

1. thick and short

2. consisting of or containing thick pieces

   chunky dog food

3. (of clothes, esp knitwear) made of thick bulky material

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Other Word Forms

• chunkily
  adverb
• chunkiness
  noun

Etymology

Origin of chunky

An Americanism dating back to 1745–55; chunk ¹ + -y ¹

Explanation

Something that's full of little lumps and bits is chunky. Some people are crazy about chunky peanut butter, while others prefer it to be smooth and creamy. Some kinds of soup are chunky, with hunks of potato and pieces of broccoli, and you can also make a chunky spaghetti sauce that's full of tomato bits. When a person is described as chunky, it means they're dense and thick-bodied, and sometimes quite muscular. Chunky is an American English word, from the sense of chunk as "a thick piece of something,"

Example Sentences

Campbell’s said that tariff-related price increases weighed on its ready-to-serve soup business, which include its Chunky and Homestyle brands.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025

They include not crossing one’s legs, not eating soup in public – sorry to all those NFL spokesmen for Campbell’s Chunky, I guess – and the straw ban.

From Salon • Jun. 1, 2025

Bollywood actress Ananya Panday has been criticised and heavily trolled over nepotism because her father Suyash "Chunky" Panday was a successful actor in the late 1980s.

From BBC • Sep. 16, 2024

Since releasing the ad, Ms. Lee said, the company has garnered four times the ordinary engagement on TikTok with its Chunky products.

From New York Times • Feb. 8, 2024

Chunky clods dislodged from the creek’s bank and toppled into the water, swept into the loop.

From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles

Related Words

• chubby
• stocky
• stout