fatness
Americannoun
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the state or condition of being fat; obesity; corpulence.
-
richness; fertility; abundance.
the fatness of the land.
Usage
What does fatness mean? Fatness is a word for the state or condition of being or being considered obese or overweight. The word fat is most often used in a critical, judgmental, or mean way, and the same is often true of fatness. In contrast, the synonym obesity is more often used in a neutral way, such as in a medical context in the discussion of a person’s health (though it too can be used in a judgmental or mean way). Fatness isn’t always used in a negative way. Some people might refer to others’ or their own fatness in a way that’s not intended to be critical, as in I don’t have to apologize for my fatness. Example: As a society, we tend to value skinny bodies and shame fatness.
Etymology
Origin of fatness
before 1000; Middle English fatnesse, Old English fǣtnes. See fat, -ness
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.
Conducted by the University of South Australia's Alliance for Research in Exercise, Nutrition and Activity team, the 'Life on Holidays' study assessed changes to children's fitness and fatness during the holidays.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 11, 2023
In any case, BMI or any measure of body fatness should not be used alone to address cardiovascular risks.
From Scientific American ● Jul. 5, 2023
This made it easier for businesses and social critics to propagandize against fatness because, simply put, the existence of more fat people opened up potentially lucrative opportunities for doing so.
From Salon ● Dec. 27, 2022
A lot of conversation around fatness, she says, has flattened out into conversation about making fun of fat people but there is a whole medico-social-political angle to it too.
From BBC ● Nov. 22, 2022
The fatness was cute in a chubby, rosy cheeks kind of way.
From "Watch Us Rise" by Renée Watson and Ellen Hagan
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.
