portly

[pawrt-lee, pohrt-]

adjective

portlier, portliest 

1. rather heavy or fat; stout; corpulent.

2. Archaic.,  stately, dignified, or imposing.

portly

/ ˈpɔːtlɪ /

adjective

1. stout or corpulent

2. archaic,  stately; impressive

Other Word Forms

• portliness noun
• unportly adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of portly¹

1520–30; port ⁵ (noun) + -ly

Word History and Origins

Origin of portly¹

C16: from _port ⁵ (in the sense: deportment, bearing)

Example Sentences

To the dismay of more portly ministers in tow, he also made a habit of jogging onto stage at public events.

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But the portly housekeeper was already chugging back the way she came.

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The way American newspapers caricatured his portly build and bald head, portraying him like some stubby supervillain sprung from the pages of one of their ludicrous comic books.

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Veytia, a portly figure with a bushy mustache, seemed an unlikely Eliot Ness, but he was credited with reducing violence and hailed as “the terror of every criminal” in a laudatory corrido, or ballad.

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"Cyril", as he is known to some, is said to be a portly man with a very gruff voice.

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Related Words

• beefy 
• burly 
• corpulent 
• overweight 
• stout