These words refer to a physique that is fleshy or overweight. Fat is the most informal and also the most concrete and direct of these words: a woman who was unbelievably fat . The word does, however, recognize degrees of this condition: a young man who already looked slightly fat . By contrast, both corpulent and obese refer to excessive states of overweight; they are also much more formal than fat . Obese is the clinical term used to describe this condition when it is considered medically rather than aesthetically and with particular reference to its endangering of health; consequently an unequivocally extreme case is indicated: the incidence of heart failure in obese persons. Corpulent refers, literally, to fleshiness of physique, especially in the stomach, but also may suggest bulk or overall heaviness rather than a medically obese condition; it would thus not require so extreme a case to become applicable: a smiling corpulent Buddha.

Portly and stout are both genteel euphemisms for fat, especially used to describe elderly people. Portly suggests dignity of bearing in a figure of great girth; stout suggests a general heaviness of physique: the portly matrons who served tea after the recital; the stout innkeeper with the cherubic face.

Plump and buxom indicate the slightest degree of overweight suggested by any of these words; both can be approving rather than disapproving. Plump suggests a soft ripeness of figure that is thought attractive: Rubens?plump female figures that would today be considered fat ; a plump baby. The word can , of course, be used euphemistically: the plump , pot-bellied scoutmaster and his scrawny charges. Buxom is restricted to describing a plump or well-developed woman, especially one radiating sturdy good health: buxom pioneer women. Both this use of the word and its use as a euphemism for fat have recently given way to its specific use for a sensual and, particularly, bosomy figure: a buxom barmaid.

Chubby suggests a squareness of figure, filled out with fleshiness, that might be thought earthy or robust: the chubby little girl; the chubby man’s twinkling eyes. The word sometimes has an aura of well-intended humour. Adipose is most strictly a biological term for fatty tissue itself.; when used as a substitute for fat, the word has comic effect, sometimes less well-intentioned than chubby : adipose ladies and gentlemen who rush in droves to reducing salons.