obese
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of obese
First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin obēsus, adjective use of past participle of obedere, obesse (unrecorded) “to eat away,” from ob- ob- + edere, esse “to eat” ( see also eat)
Explanation
Obese means excessively fat. In medical terms, it means you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, at which point your body's excess fat begins to threaten your health. In the last third of the 20th century and into the 21st, increasing numbers of Americans are obese, in what health professionals call "an obesity epidemic"; they attribute it to rising portion-sizes, increased consumption of processed food, the demise of family meals, and food marketing, among other factors.
Vocabulary lists containing obese
Burning Blue
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 2
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Articles on Nutrition
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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.
Obese patients with insurance coverage may not be interested in paying cash for the less-effective pills and could still choose to remain on the injectable GLP-1 drugs, bought through normal pharmacy channels.
From Barron's • Dec. 28, 2025
Obese children are more likely than those with healthy weights to have high blood pressure and diabetes, and more likely to be obese in adulthood.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 27, 2024
Obese is a medical term used to describe a person with a high excess of body fat.
From BBC • Mar. 2, 2023
Obese patients who undergo bariatric surgery generally lose up to 25 percent of their body weight, much more than patients who diet to lose weight.
From New York Times • Nov. 11, 2021
“Well, that’s it for updates. Next, we’ll go to weather with Melissa, and then Terry for ‘Is Your Cat Obese?’
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
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.
