roly-poly

American  

[roh-lee-poh-lee, -poh-lee] / ˈroʊ liˈpoʊ li, -ˌpoʊ li /

adjective

1. short and plumply round, as a person or a young animal.

   Synonyms:

   pudgy, rotund, fat

   Antonyms:

   scrawny

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noun

plural

roly-polies

1. a roly-poly person or thing.

2. Chiefly British. a sheet of biscuit dough spread with jam, fruit, or the like, rolled up and steamed or baked.

roly-poly British  

/ ˈrəʊlɪˈpəʊlɪ /

adjective

1. plump, buxom, or rotund

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noun

1. a strip of suet pastry spread with jam, fruit, or a savoury mixture, rolled up, and baked or steamed as a pudding

2. a plump, buxom, or rotund person

3. an informal name for tumbleweed

Etymology

Origin of roly-poly

1595–1605; earlier rowle powle, rowly-powly worthless fellow, game involving rolling balls, rhyming compound based on roll (v.); for second element poll ¹

Explanation

Someone who's roly-poly is small and round. Your fat little Corgi puppy is extra adorable because she's so roly-poly. A chubby baby, with dimpled elbows and fat little legs, could be described as roly-poly. When you use this word as a noun for a plump person, it's especially derogatory, but the baby bears at the zoo won't mind being called roly-polies. When someone talks about a roly-poly bug, they mean a pill millipede or a woodlouse, a small insect that can protectively roll itself into a ball.

Example Sentences

"We had tapioca, semolina, treacle sponge pudding, as well as jam roly-poly, cake with icing and sprinkles, chocolate cake and pink custard, and more."

From BBC • Apr. 4, 2025

A distinctive style, star-studded voice cast and the winning Jack Black voicing Po, the roly-poly, dumpling-appreciating Dragon Warrior, is usually a recipe for success, or at least it has been.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 7, 2024

With their roly-poly bodies, child-like eyes, long whiskers and tiny padded paws, otters are some of the most charismatic animals in nature.

From Salon • Jan. 23, 2024

David Byrne applies his quizzical-observer perspective in “The Fat Man’s Comin’,” a brief, brawny and elaborately arranged chamber-pop bolero about “a roly-poly man in the dark, he’s riding.”

From New York Times • Dec. 23, 2022

“Dumplings, yumplings, roly-poly dumplings! Eat you, eat you, we will eat you UP!”

From "Invisible Inkling" by Emily Jenkins