embonpoint

noun

em·​bon·​point äⁿ-bōⁿ-ˈpwaⁿ 

: plumpness of person : stoutness

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Embonpoint is most often used to describe people of heavy, but not unattractive, girth. It derives from "en bon point," a phrase from Middle French that means "in good condition." The word was first used as a noun in English in the 17th century. It has subsequently appeared in works by Charlotte Brontë ("a form decidedly inclined to embonpoint" - Shirley), James Fenimore Cooper ("an embonpoint that was just sufficient to distinguish her from most of her companions" - Home as Found), and George Eliot ("as erect in her comely embonpoint as a statue of Ceres" - Adam Bede), among others.

Synonyms

• adiposity
• chubbiness
• corpulence
• corpulency
• fat
• fatness
• fattiness
• fleshiness
• grossness
• obesity
• plumpness
• portliness
• pudginess
• pursiness
• rotundity
• weight

Examples of embonpoint in a Sentence

clothes for women who may be inclined to embonpoint but who still want to look stylish

Recent Examples on the Web

The pop of a Krispy Kreme sign and the tan embonpoint / Of Scotch bottles after customs to caress. —Dwight Garner, New York Times, 10 Apr. 2020

Word History

Etymology

French, from Middle French, from en bon point in good condition

First Known Use

1670, in the meaning defined above

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