portly

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English

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Etymology

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From an archaic sense of port (manner in which a person carries himself; bearing; deportment; carriage) +‎ -ly.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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portly (comparative portlier, superlative portliest)

  1. Somewhat fat, pudgy, overweight. [from 15th c.]
    • 1824, Geoffrey Crayon [pseudonym; Washington Irving], “Introduction”, in Tales of a Traveller, part 1 (Strange Stories. []), Philadelphia, Pa.: H[enry] C[harles] Carey & I[saac] Lea, [], →OCLC:
      Indeed, the poor man has grown ten times as nervous as ever, since he has discovered, on such good authority, who the stout gentleman was. . . . He has anxiously endeavored to call up a recollection of what he saw of that portly personage; and has ever since kept a curious eye on all gentlemen of more than ordinary dimensions.
    • 1851 November 14, Herman Melville, chapter 32, in Moby-Dick; or, The Whale, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers; London: Richard Bentley, →OCLC, page 151:
      In the length he attains, and in his baleen, the Fin-back resembles the right whale, but is of a less portly girth, and a lighter colour, approaching to olive.
    • 1913, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 14, in The Little Nugget:
      His portly middle section, rising beyond like a small hill, heaved rhythmically.
    • 2011 July 6, Nick Carbone, “Top 10 Worst Fictional Camp Counselors”, in Time, retrieved 8 May 2014:
      In Heavyweights, Tony Perkis (Ben Stiller) is a fitness guru who installs himself as the über-buff leader of Camp Hope, with the goal of helping portly youngsters shed their saggy stomachs and thunder thighs.
  2. (now rare) Having a dignified bearing; handsome, imposing. [from 15th c.]

Usage notes

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  • When used to refer to someone who is overweight, portly is a less harsh term than fat.

Synonyms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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  • portly”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

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