stocky
Americanadjective
-
stockier,
comparative
-
stockiest
superlative
-
of solid and sturdy form or build; thick-set and, usually, short.
-
having a strong, stout stem, as a plant.
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of stocky
First recorded in 1350–1400, stocky is from the Middle English word stokky. See stock, -y 1
Explanation
The adjective stocky means wide and sturdy. The big, strong guy who works tossing heavy boxes up on a loading dock at a warehouse is stocky. People who are stocky tend to be somewhat short and fairly heavy. Your stocky next-door neighbor is strong and solid, and his stocky bull dog is too. Interestingly, stocky meant "made of wood" back in 1400, and it was also used to distinguish "weedy" plants from more woody ones. Stocky has evolved since then to describe people with bodies "like tree trunks."
Vocabulary lists containing stocky
On the Come Up
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"American History" by Judith Ortiz Cofer
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The Son of Neptune
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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.
See Examples For:
His unruly brown hair is beginning to gray and the stocky build he had as a player has filled out a bit.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2026
Born in 1860 in the rural northwest of Pennsylvania, Frisbee was a stocky, mustached man with many strings to his bow.
From Barron's ● Apr. 13, 2026
Born in then-Soviet Lithuania, the 53-year-old - tall, stocky, talkative - describes himself as ethnically Russian.
From BBC ● Mar. 11, 2026
Ron, a New Yorker from Long Island, was Vince’s stocky, tattooed business partner.
From Slate ● Jan. 13, 2026
He wore relatively conservative clothing on his stocky frame, at least relative to what Mrs. Torrance normally wore.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Down the status and stature yardstick are the shorter, stockier Mediterranean fan palm as well as the jelly palm, whose fruit lives up to the name.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 20, 2025
A study of 170 Ironman contestants found tall, leggy runners performed better in warm climates, while shorter, stockier people had the upper hand in colder temperatures.
From BBC ● May 11, 2023
He was built like an uncle, stockier than everybody in the cabin.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2022
One is lean with dark hair; the other stockier, his gray hair clipped close to his skull.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2018
Jack has an older brother in high school, and they look alike except that John’s taller, stockier, and more jocklike.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
On paper, Iran's need for parts could be a boon for salvage firms and any second-hand stockiest who have had unwanted bits of the oldest types used by Iran accumulating dust for years.
From Reuters ● Nov. 28, 2013
But when in flats, to be again transplanted, the soil for the first sowing will be better for having no manure in it, the idea being to get the hardest, stockiest growth possible.
From Home Vegetable Gardening — a Complete and Practical Guide to the Planting and Care of All Vegetables, Fruits and Berries Worth Growing for Home Use by F. F. (Frederick Frye) Rockwell
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.
