different between corpulent vs hefty

English

Etymology

From Middle English corpulent, from Old French corpulent, from Latin corpulentus

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /?k??pj?l?nt/, /?k??pj?l?nt/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?k??pj?l?nt/

Adjective

corpulent (comparative more corpulent, superlative most corpulent)

1. Large in body; fat; overweight.
2. (obsolete) Physical, material, corporeal.

Usage notes

• In contemporary usage, "corpulent" can designate a range of bodily states, from modest plumpness to significant fatness to extreme obesity.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:obese

Related terms

• corpulence

Translations

References

• Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed., 1989.
• Random House Webster's Unabridged Electronic Dictionary, 1987-1996.

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French corpulent, from Old French corpulent, from Latin corpulentus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?k?r.py?l?nt/
• Hyphenation: cor?pu?lent
• Rhymes: -?nt

Adjective

corpulent (comparative corpulenter, superlative corpulentst)

1. overweight, corpulent

   Synonyms: gezet, lijvig

Inflection

Derived terms

• corpulentheid
• corpulentie

French

Etymology

From Middle French corpulent, from Old French corpulent, a borrowing from Latin corpulentus.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /k??.py.l??/

Adjective

corpulent (feminine singular corpulente, masculine plural corpulents, feminine plural corpulentes)

1. corpulent, stout

Related terms

• corpulence

Further reading

• “corpulent” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

English

Etymology

19th century. From heft (“weight”) +? -y.

The similarity with German heftig (“vigorous, violent, intense”) is apparently coincidental. From the German are Dutch, Danish, Norwegian heftig, Swedish häftig.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?h?fti/

Adjective

hefty (comparative heftier, superlative heftiest)

1. Heavy, strong, vigorous, mighty, impressive.

   He can throw a hefty punch.

   • 1934, Frank Richards, The Magnet, Kidnapped from the Air

     The Remove dormitory echoed to the old, familiar sound of Bunter's hefty snore.

2. Strong; bulky.

   They use some hefty bolts to hold up road signs.

3. (of a person) Possessing physical strength and weight; rugged and powerful; powerfully or heavily built.

   He was a tall, hefty man.

4. Heavy, weighing a lot.

   She carries a hefty backpack full of books.

5. (colloquial, of a number or amount) Large.

   That's going to cost you a hefty sum.

Usage notes

• Nouns to which "hefty" is often applied: price tag, premium, profit, price, penalty, fine, portion, salary, gain, increase, amount, sum, check, fee.

Translations