flabby
Americanadjective
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hanging loosely or limply, as flesh or muscles; flaccid.
-
having such flesh.
-
lacking strength or determination.
adjective
-
lacking firmness; loose or yielding
flabby muscles
-
having flabby flesh, esp through being overweight
-
lacking vitality; weak; ineffectual
Other Word Forms
- flabbily adverb
- flabbiness noun
Etymology
Origin of flabby
1690–1700; apparently expressive alteration of earlier flappy, with same sense; flap, -y 1; compare late Middle English flabband (attested once), evidently with sense “flapping”
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.
Too much leads to flabby and underdeveloped minds.
From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 21, 2025
In a speech last week Sir Keir Starmer promised to make the "flabby" state more efficient and cut bureaucracy.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2025
She then placed a plate on the table that consisted of flabby, unappetizing bacon with a few char marks…
From Salon • Dec. 30, 2023
When we need the churning dread of an intimate tale of generational trauma, “The Marsh King’s Daughter” goes formulaic, and when we’re primed for exploitation sweats, it gets flabby.
From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 3, 2023
She made him feel incredibly weak and flabby.
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
