adjective
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full of or having lumps
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(esp of the sea) rough
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(of a person) heavy or bulky
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of lumpy
Explanation
Lumpy things are uneven and full of bumps or chunks. While lumpy oatmeal might be good, a lumpy mattress can make it impossible to get a good night's sleep. It's easier to play a game of croquet on a smooth lawn, rather than a lumpy field full of bumps and holes. And you may find a silky bowl of chocolate pudding delicious, but be disgusted by the texture of a lumpy serving of tapioca pudding. The adjective lumpy, by way of the noun lump, comes from the Old English lumpe, from a Scandinavian root.
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:
Steamed-up windows, lumpy seats and heating that often did not provide much warmth - all familiar memories of the journey to school for generations of children.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
However, its asset quality remains a key risk, as lumpy commercial real-estate non-performing loans continue to weigh, says the analyst.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
Momentum investing has paid huge dividends over time, and it is strongly endorsed by academic research, but the returns can be lumpy — you will occasionally get a very nasty spell of underperformance.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
There are a few lumpy patches, moments when the revision over-explains itself or belabors a point.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 20, 2026
She sat on the edge of one cot; the thin, lumpy mattress and pained squeak of the old springs made her sigh with contentment.
From "The Interrupted Tale" by Maryrose Wood
A uniform signal would favor meteoritic fallout, whereas a lumpier distribution, and the presence of minerals that hint at microbe-fueling reactions, could be a sign of life—and a green light to drill a sample.
From Science Magazine ● Jun. 25, 2020
The lines did look lumpier than expected, but I wasn’t prepared for the taste.
From The New Yorker ● Nov. 18, 2019
Act 2 gets lumpier, as Nick struggles to concoct a show destined to be “something rotten” — like the state of Hamlet’s Denmark.
From Seattle Times ● Sep. 15, 2017
Opposite Billy would sit Mako, big brother in every way - two years older, heavier and lumpier, now England's loose-head prop.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2013
The cushions felt lumpier on the ground than they’d been on the couch, and they kept sliding apart beneath her.
From "Orphan Island" by Laurel Snyder
But inside the square head of this butcher's son is a fantastically retentive brain that gobbles up details of technology and digests the lumpiest government problem.
From Time Magazine Archive
Babulya sat across the table, knitting the lumpiest scarf Anya had ever seen.
From Anya and the Dragon by Sofiya Pasternack
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.
