embonpoint
Americannoun
noun
adjective
Etymology
Origin of embonpoint
From French, dating back to 1655–65, literally, in good condition
Explanation
Embonpoint is a fancy way to talk about someone's curvy or plump figure. Embonpoint, pronounced "ahm-bohn-PWAH," is, you guessed it, French in origin. It comes from the phrase "en bon point," which literally means "in good shape." Embonpoint is generally a compliment, not a criticism — it doesn't mean overweight or fat. You can use embonpoint as a noun or as an adjective: "Your embonpoint friend looks wonderfully curvy in her new dress." Although this word is usually used to describe bodies, the Romantic poet John Keats takes some poetic license when he describes eating a nectarine: “It went down soft, pulpy, slushy, oozy — all its delicious embonpoint melted down my throat like a large beatified Strawberry.”
Vocabulary lists containing embonpoint
Peter Pan
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English Words Derived from French, List 10
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The Age of Innocence
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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.
A lot of time is spent in airports, where there is “The pop of a Krispy Kreme sign and the tan embonpoint / Of Scotch bottles after customs to caress.”
From New York Times ● Apr. 10, 2020
He’s carrying a bit of weight – you could almost say embonpoint.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 31, 2016
Long taunted for his embonpoint, polite French for tubbiness, the affable pol used to garner dessert-inspired nicknames.
From Newsweek ● Nov. 10, 2012
Tristan was played by the Canadian Ben Heppner, and he has a belly quite as superb as the diva's own embonpoint.
From The Guardian ● Aug. 24, 2012
Then he looked down at his vanished embonpoint and patted with his gloves the flat hardness that had replaced it.
From A World Apart by Merwin, Sam
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.
