obese

adjective

\ ō-ˈbēs

Definition of obese

: having excessive body fat

Other Words from obese Synonyms & Antonyms Example Sentences Learn More about obese

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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

About 40% of adults are obese, according to the American Medical Association. — Laura Reiley, Anchorage Daily News, "It doesn’t matter if it’s sugary or diet: Study links all soda to an early death," 5 Sep. 2019 By 2012, a quarter of schoolchildren and a third of Chile’s adult population were obese. — Laura Reiley, Washington Post, "Latin America’s war on obesity could be a model for U.S.," 16 July 2019 In its 2017 report, the CDC estimated that 30.1% of adults in the United States were obese. — Ricky Pinela, orlandosentinel.com, "Florida isn’t as fat as you think, study says," 16 July 2019 Those who are obese tend to have lower levels of Akkermansia muciniphila in their gut, and dieting to improve insulin resistance tends to work better in people who have more of the bacteria, according to a 2016 study. — Arman Azad, CNN, "This bacteria may help people with obesity live healthier lives, study says," 3 July 2019 Our diets are a major reason why about 40% of U.S. adults are obese, and run an outsized risk of developing health problems such as Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. — Anya Samek, The Conversation, "Selecting groceries ahead of time helps some shoppers make healthier choices," 10 July 2019 Much of the public conversation around technology’s effect on American life is focused on the young, with questions about whether screen time is making kids and young adults anti-social, less employable, obese, sadder, dumber. — Christopher Ingraham, Washington Post, "Screen time is rising, reading is falling, and it’s not young people’s fault," 21 June 2019 As a preliminary test, Université Laval recruited 69 obese men to follow either the satiating diet or a control diet for 16 weeks. — Caroline Picard, Good Housekeeping, "What Is the Satiating Diet and Will It Help You Lose Weight? Here's What an R.D. Thinks," 20 June 2019 Within Louisville, as of 2016, nearly 25% of sixth graders and 18% of kindergartners were obese, according to the Louisville health department. — Benjamin Tobin, The Courier-Journal, "Starting now, Louisville restaurants may be fined for lacking healthy kids meal options," 10 June 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'obese.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

History and Etymology for obese

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").

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