porky

¹

[pawr-kee, pohr-]

adjective

porkier, porkiest 

1. of, relating to, or resembling pork.

2. fat.

   a porky child.

porky

²

[pawr-kee, pohr-]

noun

Chiefly Inland North and Western U.S..

plural

porkies 

1. a porcupine.

porky

¹

/ ˈpɔːkɪ /

adjective

1. belonging to or characteristic of pork

   a porky smell

2. informal,  fat; obese

porky

²

/ ˈpɔːkɪ /

noun

1. Also called: pork pie. slang,  a lie

Other Word Forms

• porkiness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of porky¹

First recorded in 1850–55; pork + -y ¹

Origin of porky²

An Americanism dating back to 1900–05; porc(upine) + -y ²

Word History and Origins

Origin of porky¹

from rhyming slang pork pie lie

Example Sentences

I always took him for a “Porky’s” kind of guy.

Read more on Salon

The brand-new feature-length “The Day The Earth Blew Up: A Looney Tunes Story,” starring Daffy and Porky — whose teaming goes back to 1937 —and originally set for Max, was raffled off to another distributor, who released it theatrically this past weekend.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

"It was hard and anybody in that position who says it wasn't, I think will be telling you porky pies."

Read more on BBC

Sylvester is panicked, Porky oblivious.

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"I thought: 'Uh-oh. David’s told me a porky pie here,'" Underwood says.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• boar 
• hog 
• piglet 
• swine 

When To Use

What does porky mean?

Porky is used to describe food as having the flavor of pork (the meat from a pig), as in The bacon gives the dish a nice porky flavor. This sense of the word can be applied to dishes that have a prominent pork flavor or to pork itself when its flavor is strong, as in I think a lot of sausage is bland, but this is so flavorful—really nice and porky. The word porky can also be used as a way to call someone chubby. This may be intended to be funny, but it’s always insulting to compare someone to a pig.In the U.S., porky is used in some places as a slang term for porcupine.In the U.K., porky is used as a slang term meaning a lie, as in I think he’s telling a porky. Example: I like my ramen to be extra porky, so I doubled the amount of pork belly in it.