obese
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of obese
First recorded in 1645–55; from Latin obēsus, adjective use of past participle of obedere, obesse (unrecorded) “to eat away,” from ob- ob- + edere, esse “to eat” ( see also eat)
Explanation
Obese means excessively fat. In medical terms, it means you have a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more, at which point your body's excess fat begins to threaten your health. In the last third of the 20th century and into the 21st, increasing numbers of Americans are obese, in what health professionals call "an obesity epidemic"; they attribute it to rising portion-sizes, increased consumption of processed food, the demise of family meals, and food marketing, among other factors.
Vocabulary lists containing obese
Burning Blue
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 2
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Articles on Nutrition
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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.
The researchers noted that obesity rates remain high in many countries, particularly in the United Kingdom, where 29% of adults are obese and 64% are overweight or obese.
From Science Daily • May 23, 2026
About 48% of people covered by Medicare are obese, while 38% of Americans on Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program have a body mass index of 30 or higher.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 21, 2026
The National Survey for Wales published in May 2025 found that 33% of adults in the area were classed as obese.
From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026
Those who developed obesity between ages 17 and 29 had about a 70 percent higher risk of premature death compared with people who did not become obese before age 60.
From Science Daily • Apr. 11, 2026
The way I ate I should have been obese.
From "Born a Crime: Stories from a South African Childhood" by Trevor Noah
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.
