fleshy
Americanadjective
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having much flesh; plump; fat.
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consisting of or resembling flesh.
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Botany. consisting of fleshlike substance; pulpy, as a fruit; thick and tender, as a succulent leaf.
adjective
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fat; plump
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related to or resembling flesh
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botany (of some fruits, leaves, etc) thick and pulpy
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of fleshy
Middle English word dating back to 1325–75; see origin at flesh, -y 1
Explanation
Something that's fleshy is plump and thick, like the fleshy fruit of a ripe peach or the fleshy leaves of your giant rubber plant. When it's not describing the soft, almost meaty tissue of a plant, the adjective fleshy is most often used for people who are plump or well-padded. While today the word tends to be somewhat derogatory and judgmental, the original meaning of fleshy was simply "consisting of muscle and flesh."
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.
Fleshy oyster mushrooms crisp up nicely without the help of oil or salt in a kebab perked up, like the others, with pickled onions.
From Washington Post • Jan. 13, 2023
Fleshy and agile, Hensley’s Oscar is aquiver with his own neurosis: he’s a faith-seeker, but, in the end, he can’t believe in himself, so how can he believe in love with Charity?
From The New Yorker • Nov. 27, 2016
Fleshy fruit include the familiar berries, peaches, apples, grapes, and tomatoes.
From Textbooks • Apr. 25, 2013
Fleshy and obscene, Shor pulled in manly types—Frank Sinatra and Jackie Gleason; sports stars like Joe DiMaggio; sportswriters like Jimmy Cannon; even Chief Justice Earl Warren—to join his nocturnal party.
From Slate • Oct. 3, 2011
“He was in late middle age. Fleshy and smooth-skinned. Silver-gray hair. Dressed in expensive clothes, and with traces of a heavy scent around him.”
From "The Amber Spyglass" by Philip Pullman
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.
