pudgy

[puhj-ee]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR pudgy ON THESAURUS.COM

adjective, pudg·i·er, pudg·i·est.

short and fat or thick: an infant's pudgy fingers.

Also especially British, podgy.

Origin of pudgy

First recorded in 1830–40; origin uncertain

Related formspudg·i·ly, adverbpudg·i·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for pudgy

chubby, plump, hefty, rotund, round, stout, tubby, plumpish

Examples from the Web for pudgy

Contemporary Examples of pudgy

He is a pudgy, bespectacled, homburg-wearing cuckold of a Sherlock in those fish-grey postwar years of 1970s England.
Iran’s Top Spy Is the Modern-Day Karla, John Le Carré’s Villainous Mastermind
Michael Weiss
July 2, 2014
The young, professional players indulged the pudgy kingpin as he kicked his ball around in the dirt.
Pablo Escobar’s Private Prison Is Now Run by Monks for Senior Citizens
Jeff Campagna
June 7, 2014
A pudgy, bald man in a suit and sweater ensemble stands in an opening between two of the newly erected walls.
This Cairo College Campus Is Now a 'Warzone'
Jonathan Krohn
February 18, 2014
He was a pudgy young boy and eventually fell in with a bad crowd.
Mike Tyson Opens Up About His Rape Conviction, Brad Pitt, and Love of Pinkberry
Marlow Stern
November 6, 2013
Some hung-over mornings he looks into the mirror and finds a pudgy Nosferatu looking back at him.
My Week At An Austrian Fat Camp
Owen Matthews
October 27, 2013

Historical Examples of pudgy

And she laughed and laughed, slapping her fat knee with a pudgy, ring-laden hand.
Athalie
Robert W. Chambers
His pudgy fingers trembled about the pen as he scratched on the pad before him.
El Diablo
Brayton Norton
She had a little baby, a new one, a pudgy red-looking thing.
The Beth Book
Sarah Grand
There was an odd expression of defiance overlaid with fear on his pudgy features.
The Lani People
J. F. Bone
In the middle of the room stood the Elf, with pudgy hand extended.
The Shadow Witch
Gertrude Crownfield

British Dictionary definitions for pudgy

pudgy

adjective pudgier or pudgiest

a variant spelling (esp US) of podgy

Derived Formspudgily, adverbpudginess, noun

Word Origin for pudgy

C19: of uncertain origin; compare earlier pudsy plump, perhaps from Scottish pud stomach, plump child

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for pudgy

adj.

also podgy, 1824, from colloquial pudge "anything short and thick" + -y (2). Perhaps related to pudsy "plump" (1754), possibly a diminutive of nursery word pud "hand, forepaw" (from 17c.). A connection with pudding also has been conjectured. In late 19c. often on lists of English local or dialectal words; sources also mention puddy, punchy, pluggy, pudget as relatives or variants. Related: Pudginess.