adjective
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rounded or spherical in shape
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plump
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sonorous or grandiloquent; full in tone, style of speaking, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of rotund
1695–1705; < Latin rotundus round, circular, derivative of rota wheel; cf. round 1
Explanation
Rotund describes anything that's plump or round, like a teapot or your chubby Aunt Agnes. Rotund describes someone who is round in shape, or obese. It's not a compliment. That's why it's probably okay to call Santa Claus rotund, but not your neighbor — at least not to his face! It's fine to call round things rotund, however, like a rotund vase full of flowers, which particularly makes sense when you know that the root of rotund is the Latin word rotundus, meaning round, circular, like a wheel.
Vocabulary lists containing rotund
Grade 9, List 3
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This Week in Words: October 22 - 27, 2017
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The Vanderbeekers of 141st Street
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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.
The scientists have also launched Fat Marmot Week, styled after Fat Bear Week, where the public can vote for their favourite rotund rodent in a bracket-style tournament at the end of August.
From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026
Video released by the US-based NGO Beneath The Waves shows one orca holding the tail of a sunfish, with its fellow whale then charging with full force into the rotund mola, which explodes into pieces.
From Barron's ● Jul. 23, 2026
What it picked up was a rotund raccoon waddling by.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
That’s on top of how the rotund beavers in “Hoppers” have been conceived for maximum cuteness.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026
“Thank you, miss. They do the job,” said one of the Helpers, a short rotund man who looked rather like a bullfrog and sounded even more like one.
From "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart
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.
