stubby

American  

[stuhb-ee] / ˈstʌb i /

adjective

• stubbier,
  comparative
• stubbiest
  superlative

1. of the nature of or resembling a stub.

2. short and thick or broad; thick-set or squat.

   stubby fingers.

3. consisting of or abounding in stubs.

4. bristly, as the hair or beard.

---

stubby British  

/ ˈstʌbɪ /

adjective

1. short and broad; stumpy or thickset

2. bristling and stiff

---

noun

1. Also called: stubbie.  slang a small bottle of beer

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• stubbiness
  noun
• stubbily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Adjectives

• stubbier
  comparative
• stubbiest
  superlative

Etymology

Origin of stubby

First recorded in 1565–75; stub ¹ + -y ¹

Explanation

Stubby things are thick and short, like your sister's stubby little toes or the stubby remains of your favorite pencil that's been sharpened until it's barely long enough to hold. For some reason, this adjective is most commonly used to describe people's fingers and toes: "I always wanted to be a concert pianist like my brother, but my fingers were just too stubby." But you can use it for anything short and blunt, like the stubby baby carrots your mom packs in your lunch or the stubby, useless arms of an upright dinosaur like Tyrannosaurus rex.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

stubby stubbier

“They’re snitches,” he said, raising a stubby thermal scope to one eye.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 30, 2026

"Its stubby little arms with only one row of suckers set it apart from most octopus we are familiar with," Voight said.

From Barron's ● May 25, 2026

You don't get a tick in the box if the name on the ballot paper means nothing to the voter clutching their stubby pencil in the voting booth.

From BBC ● Sep. 20, 2025

It didn’t matter that I wasn’t naked, or that no one touched me, or that it was just my stubby toes.

From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2025

Pluto Noak jabbed a stubby finger at me.

From "Black Swan Green" by David Mitchell

Compared with migratory birds in temperate regions, sedentary birds in the tropics have stubbier wings, poorer flight, and more restricted ranges.

From Science Magazine ● Mar. 16, 2022

They're essentially shorter, stubbier, and wider pasta noodles, compared to rigatoni.

From Salon ● Jan. 22, 2022

Passed between multiple chambers by a second, stubbier robotic arm on the rover’s underbelly, the sample was sized up and photographed before finally being hermetically sealed and cached.

From Scientific American ● Aug. 6, 2021

Those sycamores are expanding horizontally, creating a canopy over the stubbier plants.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 20, 2021

Younger animals, particularly females, are often stubbier and somewhat barrel-shaped behind the head.

From Whales, Dolphins, and Porpoises of the Western North Atlantic A Guide to Their Identification by David Caldwell