obesity

American  

[oh-bee-si-tee] / oʊˈbi sɪ ti /

Sometimes obeseness

noun

• obesities
  plural

1. the condition of being very fat or overweight; corpulence.

   His obesity puts him at risk for major health problems.

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obesity Scientific  

/ ō-bē′sĭ-tē /

1. The condition of being obese; increased body weight caused by excessive accumulation of fat.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• overobesity
  noun
• antiobesity
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• obesities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of obesity

First recorded in 1605–15; from Middle French obésité, from Latin obēsitāt-, stem of obēsitās, equivalent to obēs(us) obese ( def. ) + -i- ( def. ) + -tās -ty ² ( def. )

Compare meaning

How does obesity compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• anorexia vs. obesity

Explanation

Obesity is the condition of being more overweight than is considered average or healthy. The noun obesity was first used around 1610 and has origins in the Latin word obesitas, meaning "fatness" or "corpulence." During the Middle Ages, obesity was a sign of wealth and prosperity indicating that you had enough money to buy and eat all the food you wanted while others starved. Nowadays, research has shown that having too much fat can cause a number of related health problems. A healthy diet and fitness regime is a great way for someone to shed excess pounds and avoid obesity.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

obesity obesities

Since 2007, the research group has explored the biological mechanisms behind the effects of physical activity on conditions including obesity and diabetes.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 8, 2026

Experts say the data reflects the impact of the "global obesity epidemic, poor diets and insufficient exercise"

From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026

“It’s going to take time to learn what data we should be tracking and focus on the right outcomes,” said Dr. Nidhi Kansal, an obesity medicine doctor at Northwestern Medicine.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

The treatment is an obesity shot that combines the main ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy with cagrilintide, a compound that mimics the appetite-regulating hormone amylin.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026

“Increasingly, though, there’s evidence that watching TV—and, especially, watching junk food ads on TV—promotes obesity by changing mainly what and how much people eat, less so by changing how much they move.”

From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel

It does not require a Paxton to know that a hole in the stage two feet square, will not hold Barnum's obesities.

From Physiology of The Opera by John H. Swaby