as in plump
having a well-proportioned feminine figure
a shapely blonde who had a lead role in numerous Hollywood movies
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Recent Examples of shapely
The 11 Best Headboards of 2024 for Every Bedroom Style
In the primary bath, matching the Roman shade fabric to the wallpaper creates a continuous flow that emphasizes the voluminous feeling; the octagonal side table provides shapely interest.
—
Kathryn O'Shea-Evans, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Aug. 2024
Look to design super star, Ilse Crawford, for this shapely oak option.
—Erika Owen, Architectural Digest, 2 July 2024
And for the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, actor Marina Ruy Barbosa also wore an exuberant but shapely red gown.
—Allyson Portee, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Oct. 2023
At our test track, the car leapt to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds; the S7—the S6's shapelier counterpart—managed to blast to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds.
—Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 31 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for shapely
Kathryn O'Shea-Evans, Better Homes & Gardens, 7 Aug. 2024
Look to design super star, Ilse Crawford, for this shapely oak option.
—Erika Owen, Architectural Digest, 2 July 2024
And for the 2022 Red Sea International Film Festival, actor Marina Ruy Barbosa also wore an exuberant but shapely red gown.
—Allyson Portee, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Oct. 2023
At our test track, the car leapt to 60 mph in 4.0 seconds; the S7—the S6's shapelier counterpart—managed to blast to 60 mph in just 4.1 seconds.
—Drew Dorian, Car and Driver, 31 May 2023
See All Example Sentences for shapely
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shapely
Adjective
-
The abalone is plump and toothsome, yet still tender and accompanied by asparagus kissed by the fire.—
Jeremy Repanich,
Robb Report,
16 June 2026
-
Post use, skin looks and feels more plump and less inflamed, with redness virtually gone and fine lines softened.—
Eva Thomas,
InStyle,
14 June 2026
Adjective
-
The exterior is less theatrical than Disney’s, its shape rectilinear rather than curvaceous, yet a pink hue adds the requisite Gehry jazz.—
Alex Ross,
New Yorker,
15 June 2026
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It’s nicely sculpted with a curvaceous feature that its glossy salespeople will tell you is reminiscent of a Bugatti hypercar.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
13 June 2026
Adjective
-
Open storage can make a room feel that much lighter, which is the case with this curvy wooden console table.—
Julia Harrison,
Architectural Digest,
12 June 2026
-
This curvy classic Italian supercar arrived last year, in road form and track mode.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
5 June 2026
Adjective
-
Its earliest iteration can be traced back to the 1870s, when Scottish inventor John Boyd Dunlop—best known for patenting the pneumatic tire—made good on his familiarity with rubber to design a low-top canvas shoe with a vulcanized rubber sole.—
Eric Twardzik,
Robb Report,
15 June 2026
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Although there have been recent developments in soft robotics that use heat, most soft robots rely on hydraulic and pneumatic systems to move fluid through their artificial muscles and actuators.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
12 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Shapely.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shapely. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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