obese

adjective

ō-ˈbēs 

: having excessive body fat

Synonyms of obese

• plump
• fat
• overweight
• round

Examples of obese in a Sentence

providing medical treatment for obese patients

the basset hound was so obese that its stomach touched the floor

Recent Examples on the Web

The study examined whether retatrutide, an investigational weight-loss drug from Eli Lilly, could help treat OSA in adults who were overweight or obese. — Angelica Stabile, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2026

Smoking and certain conditions, such as cancer, diabetes and Covid-19, can raise the risk of clots, as can atrial fibrillation and being overweight or obese. — Jen Christensen, CNN Money, 20 Oct. 2026

In dogs and cats, BCS is measured from 1 to 9, with 1 being emaciated, 9 being morbidly obese and 5 being ideal. — Will Boyd, Baltimore Sun, 17 Oct. 2026

Also in the Wednesday meeting, the intelligence agency said Kim is still severely obese but has no signs of other health problems, Yun said. — ABC News, 29 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from Latin obēsus "fat, stout," past participle of *obedere, perhaps meaning originally "to gnaw," from ob- "against" + edere "to eat" — more at ob-, eat entry 1

Note: Etymologically obēsus should mean "thin, emaciated," if the sense of the unattested verb *obedere was "to eat away, gnaw," as implied by its components. The Roman writer Aulus Gellius (Noctes Atticae 19.7.3) pointed this out and adduced a passage from the poet Laevius (who is known only from a handful of quotations from his works made by other authors), where the word apparently has the meaning "wasted." Presumably the word went reanalysis after the extinction of the verb. The grammarian Pompeius Festus construed the derivation phrasally as "made fat as if as a result of eating" ("pinguis quasi ob edendum factus").

First Known Use

1651, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for obese

• apiece
• aris
• assise
• caprice
• cerise
• decease
• decrease
• eyepiece
• facepiece
• handpiece
• headpiece
• increase

Kids Definition

obese

adjective

ō-ˈbēs 

: very fat

obesity

ō-ˈbē-sət-ē

noun

Medical Definition

obese

adjective

ō-ˈbēs 

: having excessive body fat : affected by obesity