stocky

[ stok-ee ]

adjective

, stock·i·er, stock·i·est.

1. of solid and sturdy form or build; thick-set and, usually, short.
2. having a strong, stout stem, as a plant.

stocky

/ ˈstɒkɪ /

adjective

1. (usually of a person) thickset; sturdy

Derived Forms

• ˈstockily, adverb
• ˈstockiness, noun

Other Words From

• stocki·ly adverb
• stocki·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of stocky¹

First recorded in 1350–1400, stocky is from the Middle English word stokky. See stock, -y ¹

Example Sentences

It had five-fingered hands, a bearlike face and the stocky build of a pig.

From Science News For Students

This sheep-sized mammal — which sported five-fingered hands, a bearlike face and the stocky build of a pig — gave birth to highly developed young.

From Science News

The article described Sumner as a “fair-skinned, green-eyed beauty,” while Zayak was described as “terrier-like” in her determination and “stocky,” comparing her physique to that of baseball’s Pete Rose.

From FiveThirtyEight

Roberto is stocky and heavy, so it’s hard to go up the hill.

From The Daily Beast

When you first spy the pillow-y shape of a Myobatrachus gouldii or the stocky arms of a Hemisus perreti, you might not think of how much muscle is packed in there.

From Popular-Science

Yousef, a stocky 35-year-old woman with long black hair, looks away from me most of the time when she is describing the beatings.

From The Daily Beast

Wearing a plaid shirt, the stocky singer looked like a bricklayer playing an open mic at a bar.

From The Daily Beast

Phyllis is a short, stocky, enraged-seeming woman with a high, strident voice and piercing stare.

From The Daily Beast

FIJI, a source who attended Lafayette with Stocky told The Daily Beast, is mostly made up of lacrosse and baseball players.

From The Daily Beast

The stocky, intense son of immigrant parents, Chayefksy was born and raised in the Bronx.

From The Daily Beast

Superphosphate makes dark-colored, thick-leaved, stocky (p. 419) plants.

From Project Gutenberg

An express rolled in and cutting over for it, the stocky man brushed Lamb.

From Project Gutenberg

A stocky man dodged around from behind the woman and came rapidly down the platform, neat, crisp, briefcase under his arm.

From Project Gutenberg

One of them was short and rather stocky, and his face had a sort of hard, hungry look; and the other was big and barrel-bodied.

From Project Gutenberg

At once I noticed that a new man had appeared among them—a red-faced, stocky man wearing a frock-coat and a shiny silk hat.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• chunky
• corpulent
• stout
• sturdy