obese

American  

[oh-bees] / oʊˈbis /

adjective

1. very fat or overweight; corpulent.

---

obese British  

/ əʊˈbiːs /

adjective

1. excessively fat or fleshy; corpulent

---

Other Word Forms

• obesely adverb
• obeseness noun
• obesity noun
• overobese adjective
• overobesely adverb
• overobeseness noun
• superobese adjective
• unobese adjective
• unobesely adverb
• unobeseness noun

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” ( 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.

Example Sentences

To explore the role of routine, researchers analyzed detailed, real-time food logs from 112 adults who were overweight or obese and enrolled in a structured weight loss program.

From Science Daily • Mar. 30, 2026

No. It was really interesting because there was a scene where a guy comes in who is really obese and has diverticulitis.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 30, 2026

Government data released March last year shows 24 percent of women and 23 percent of men are overweight or obese in India.

From Barron's • Mar. 20, 2026

Flegal has faced criticism for research that found people with a BMI between 30 and 34.9, which is considered obese, had lower mortality rates than people who were considered overweight.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 18, 2026

The subjects represented different ages, ethnic mixes, and body types, from muscular to obese to gaunt.

From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman

Related Words

• corpulent