chubby
Americanadjective
-
chubbier,
comparative
-
chubbiest
superlative
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of chubby
Explanation
Someone who's chubby is plump or slightly overweight. If the vet mentions that your cat's getting a little chubby, you might need to cut down on the cat treats. Many toddlers and young children have round, chubby cheeks, puppies have chubby little bellies, and Santa Claus is perhaps the most famously chubby mythical figure. The word chubby dates from the early 17th century, when it literally meant "looks like a chub," a somewhat round-shaped river fish. There may also be a connection to the Old Norse kumben, "stumpy."
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.
See Examples For:
It still has Bob’s Big Boy, the last restaurant of a once-large chain known for its chubby mascot, and Milt & Edie’s, a quirky pink-awninged 24-hour tailor and dry cleaner dating to the 1980s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
In early scenes, he has a small curved line denoting a chubby chin, which changes over time to straight lines on each cheek, narrowing his face when he is old and infirm.
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 16, 2026
Think gingerbread men, only soft, chubby, and less fearful.
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2026
I was a bit chubby as a child, but I quickly became a sporty, suburban kid.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2025
The baby toddled to the window, pressing a chubby palm against the glass.
From "Fablehaven" by Brandon Mull
“Most of the time, people want their stuffed animal a little chubbier than it was, because stuffing compresses over time, and that’s part of how they get flat,” Karper said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 8, 2023
They’re so intent on nourishing their chicks that the fledglings grow larger and chubbier than their parents by the time of the winter migration south.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 12, 2022
Photo by Thomas Ricker / The Verge The Elecjet Apollo Ultra is also chubbier than my reference battery despite holding the same number of electrons.
From The Verge ● Nov. 10, 2021
"Don't hold back. If you're chubbier, you're more eye-catching," they sing in one of their hits Stand Up.
From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2021
Her face is chubbier than I remember, her belly bigger, her hips wider.
From "The Queen of Water" by Laura Resau
That little dude sucks it right out of you like the world’s chubbiest and least stealthy vampire.
From Slate ● May 4, 2012
In the tiny Kentish village of Barham, the proud members of the pig war club informed her that their chubbiest, pinkest piglet was named Franklin.
From Time Magazine Archive
But, like hiring Hell's Angels to work security, relying on the continent's chubbiest rodents to put your landscape in order is not always a good idea.
From Time Magazine Archive
She had two of the world’s rosiest, chubbiest cheeks, which no one could keep from touching.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
This young Blackfoot had the broadest, chubbiest face the boys had ever seen, and the grin on it seemed to touch each ear.
From Deerfoot in The Mountains by John Steeple Davis
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.
