flab

American  

[flab] / flæb /

noun

1. flabby flesh; unwanted fat.

   Daily exercise will get rid of the flab around your waist.

2. the condition of being flabby.

   Most of the new recruits had run to flab in civilian life.

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flab British  

/ flæb /

noun

1. unsightly or unwanted fat on the body; flabbiness

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Etymology

Origin of flab

First recorded in 1920–25; back formation from flabby

Explanation

Flab is extra flesh or fat on a person's body. Some people take up jogging in the hopes of reducing their flab. You might notice some extra flab on your belly after a long, inactive winter — even your dog may be carrying around a little flab. Exercise and eating well are the keys to getting rid of flab, if you're unhappy with it. The adjective flabby came before the noun flab, in the late 17th century as a variation on the word flappy, "softly fleshy" in the 1590s.

Example Sentences

Whatever you wanted out of yoga—inner peace, less flab around the middle, a bit of calm before a big meeting with your boss—was totally fine with her.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 8, 2026

To that end, Melton wanted to add flab, shedding his chiseled “Riverdale” physique to become an ordinary dude with a dad-bod.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 4, 2023

Here again we see skin and muscle and flab, the tender spots of the young, the frailty of the elderly.

From New York Times • Jan. 20, 2021

For me, a far bigger problem is that it just doesn’t have much musical muscle tone, and a lot of flab.

From Washington Post • Jul. 22, 2016

Seabiscuit, already inclined toward portliness, was turning into one thousand pounds of flab.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• bawl
• cry