different between portly vs thick

English

Etymology

From port +? -ly.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?p??tli/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /?p??tli/, /?po??tli/
• (General Australian) IPA^(key): /?po?tli?/

Adjective

portly (comparative portlier, superlative portliest)

1. Somewhat fat, pudgy, overweight. [from 15th c.]
   • 1824, Washington Irving, Tales of a Traveller, Introduction:

     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.

   • 1913, P. G. Wodehouse, The Little Nugget, ch. 14:

     His portly middle section, rising beyond like a small hill, heaved rhythmically.

   • 2011 July 6, Nick Carbone, "Top 10 Worst Fictional Camp Counselors," 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.]
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, The Faerie Queene, III.2:

     Portly his person was, and much increast

     Through his Heroicke grace and honourable gest.

   • 1728, Jonathan Swift, "A Dialogue between Mad Mullinix and Timothy":

     Be studious well to imitate

     My portly motion, mien, and gait

Usage notes

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

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:obese

Derived terms

• portliness

Translations

See also

• portly at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• protyl, tropyl

English

Alternative forms

• (meme slang: curvy): thicc

Etymology

From Middle English thicke, from Old English þicce (“thick, dense”), from Proto-West Germanic *þikkw?, from Proto-Germanic *þekuz (“thick”), from Proto-Indo-European *tégus (“thick”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: th?k
• (Received Pronunciation, General American, General Australian) IPA^(key): /??k/
• (General New Zealand) IPA^(key): /??k/
• Rhymes: -?k

Adjective

thick (comparative thicker, superlative thickest)

1. Relatively great in extent from one surface to the opposite in its smallest solid dimension.

   Synonyms: broad; see also Thesaurus:wide

   Antonyms: slim, thin; see also Thesaurus:narrow
2. Measuring a certain number of units in this dimension.

3. Heavy in build; thickset.

   Synonyms: chunky, solid, stocky, thickset

   Antonyms: slender, slight, slim, svelte, thin; see also Thesaurus:slender

4. Densely crowded or packed.

   Synonyms: crowded, dense, packed; see also Thesaurus:compact

   Antonyms: sparse; see also Thesaurus:diffuse

5. Having a viscous consistency.

   Synonyms: glutinous, viscous; see also Thesaurus:viscous

   Antonyms: free-flowing, runny; see also Thesaurus:runny

6. Abounding in number.

   Synonyms: overflowing, swarming, teeming; see also Thesaurus:plentiful

   Antonyms: scant, scarce, slight

7. Impenetrable to sight.

   Synonyms: dense, opaque, solid; see also Thesaurus:opaque

   Antonyms: thin, transparent; see also Thesaurus:transparent

8. (Of an accent) Prominent, strong.
   1. Greatly evocative of one's nationality or place of origin.

   2. Difficult to understand, or poorly articulated.

      Synonyms: unclear; see also Thesaurus:incomprehensible

      Antonyms: clear, lucid; see also Thesaurus:comprehensible

9. (informal) Stupid.

   Synonyms: dense, (informal) dumb, stupid, (taboo slang) thick as pigshit, (slang) thick as two short planks; see also Thesaurus:stupid

   Antonyms: (informal) brainy, intelligent, smart; see also Thesaurus:intelligent

10. (informal) Friendly or intimate.

    Synonyms: (UK, informal) chummy, close, close-knit, friendly, (informal) pally, intimate, tight-knit

    Antonym: unacquainted

    • 1859, Thomas Hughes, The Scouring of the White Horse

      Jem is a tall, good-looking fellow, as old as I am, and that's twenty-one last birthday; we came into the office together years ago, and have been very thick ever since

11. Deep, intense, or profound.

    Synonyms: great, extreme

12. (Britain, dated) troublesome; unreasonable
    • 1969 Anita Leslie, Lady Randolph Churchill, New York, Charles Scribner's Sons, page 288:

      "Of course I was eager to put her affairs in order," George told my father, "but I found it a bit thick when expected to pay for Lord Randolph Churchill's barouche purchased in the '80s."

14. (slang, chiefly of women) Curvy and voluptuous, and especially having large hips.

    Synonyms: see Thesaurus:voluptuous

Derived terms

Translations

Adverb

thick (comparative thicker, superlative thickest)

1. In a thick manner.

   Snow lay thick on the ground.

2. Frequently or numerously.

   The arrows flew thick and fast around us.

Translations

Noun

thick (plural thicks)

1. The thickest, or most active or intense, part of something.

   • He through a little window cast his sight / Through thick of bars, that gave a scanty light.

2. A thicket.

   • gloomy thicks
3. (slang) A stupid person; a fool.

Derived terms

• in the thick of
• through thick and thin

Translations

Verb

thick (third-person singular simple present thicks, present participle thicking, simple past and past participle thicked)

1. (archaic, transitive, intransitive) To thicken.

Synonyms

• See also Thesaurus:thicken