chubby

adjective

chub·​by ˈchə-bē 

chubbier; chubbiest

: somewhat fat

a chubby child

Growing up, I was always the chubbiest in the family …

—Anna Schuchman

This is the very real story of the little bucktoothed, chubby 9-year-old boy who invented the MC …

—Killer Mike, quoted in The Dallas Morning News

also : having a full, rounded form

a baby with chubby cheeks

Chubby, crackly egg rolls with chicken, beef, or vegetables are deep-fried to order …

—Mike Sula

chubbiness

ˈchə-bē-nəs 

noun

The faces in the mosaics have a roundness, the figures a chubbiness that one does not associate with Roman portraiture …

—Sarah Caudwell

Synonyms

• blubbery
• corpulent
• fat
• fleshy
• full
• gross
• lardy
• obese
• overweight
• plump
• podgy [chiefly British]
• portly
• pudgy
• replete
• roly-poly
• rotund
• round
• tubby

Examples of chubby in a Sentence

the chubby baby had slimmed down by the time she was a toddler

Recent Examples on the Web

In September, a chubby pygmy hippo in Thailand became an online celebrity, and her home zoo became its own kind of creator, producing Moo Deng videos and selling merchandise. —Kyle Chayka, The New Yorker, 11 Dec. 2024

The pediatrician, who gained national prominence for helping uncover the city's water crisis in 2015, strode across the waiting room in her white lab coat, eyes laser-focused on the chubby baby in the lap of an unsuspecting parent. —Kate Wells, NPR, 2 Dec. 2024

In their center, Zoya drew Gorey-esque little boys, one trussed in rope, the other naked and chubby like a Renaissance putto. —Judith Shulevitz, The Atlantic, 5 Oct. 2024

Fat Bear Week is a tournament that crowns the chubbiest bear on the Brooks River in the park. —Amanda Kooser, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2024

Word History

Etymology

chub

First Known Use

1722, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

chubby

adjective

chub·​by ˈchəb-ē 

chubbier; chubbiest

: plump entry 5

a chubby baby

chubbiness noun