paunchy
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of paunchy
Explanation
Someone who's paunchy has a round belly. If you're more paunchy than you used to be, you might want to invest in slightly larger, more comfortable clothes. This adjective is often used in a mildly derogatory way, to describe someone who carries a bit of extra weight around their middle. Has your vet put your dog on a diet? It might be because she's gotten a little paunchy. The word comes from paunch, "round stomach," from a root that simply means "belly or stomach."
Vocabulary lists containing paunchy
"Rosa Parks" by Nikki Giovanni
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Dear Justyce
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"The Silent Season of a Hero" by Gay Talese
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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.
See Examples For:
At exercise time, a crowd gathered in the prison yard -- young and old, slender and paunchy, all with shaved heads.
From Barron's ● Jan. 30, 2026
Short and paunchy with a stoic face and gray hair, Lara said he still puts on a brave face around his wife.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 6, 2024
Obviously enjoying himself as well is George Lopez who plays Jaime’s paunchy uncle who is an unlikely techno-whiz and the purveyor of many one-liners.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 17, 2023
A paunchy, bespectacled, depressed widower with back pain, Farrell oozes melancholy as he checks into a hotel where he hopes to make a love match in 45 days or be turned into the titular animal.
From Salon ● Mar. 10, 2023
The man on the left had a paunchy middle and a bored-looking expression.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
At about the halfway mark, “The Disciple” flashes forward several years to find an older, paunchier, more cynical Sharad still plugging away, now balancing equally unfulfilling careers as a music teacher and occasional performer.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 5, 2021
Paul Shipman, Redhook’s founding CEO — grayer and paunchier now, but still boyish and ebullient — regales one booth with now-they-can-be-told tales from the early days.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 12, 2017
At 68, he may be grayer and paunchier, but the image he projects — that assured, steely intellect wrapped in that warm Tennessee drawl — seems all the more indelible and authoritative.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 20, 2017
Like many of Detroit's muscle cars, though, Camaro was doomed by paunchier styling and performance over the years, and the car's blue-collar fans drifted away to pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles.
From Time Magazine Archive
Number One had pushed himself back in his chair, and Josip was only mildly surprised to note that the man seemed considerably paunchier than his photos indicated.
From Expediter by Reynolds, Mack
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.
