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

McAllen also has the second-highest share of obese teenagers, according to the study. —Natassia Paloma, USA Today, 4 June 2026

The study, which was published in the JCO Oncology Practice journal, looked at University of Pennsylvania Health System records from more than 111,000 women ages 45 to 80 over the last several years who were overweight or obese, to see who went on to develop breast cancer. —ABC News, 3 June 2026

Dogs that have a limited ability to control their body temperature — such as those with respiratory diseases, obese dogs and puppies — should never be left unattended in a vehicle, regardless of outside air temperature. —The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 May 2026

Nearly 74% of Americans are obese or overweight, according to government data. —Cj Haddad, CNBC, 27 May 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