chumpy

English

Etymology

chump +‎ -y

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, US) enPR: chŭmʹpi, IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃʌmpi/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Adjective

chumpy (comparative chumpier, superlative chumpiest)

1. Short and fat, particularly in comparison with something of more favourable dimensions.
   • 1903, William James Smith, Practical Compass Adjustment:

     The Navigating compass should stand about five feet above the deck, […] . This is a convenient height for the officer of the deck, unless perchance he may be chumpy, in which case he may be permitted to use a step.

   • 1906, James Watson, The dog book:

     A chumpy neck is especially bad; for while a little dog may get along on a foot scent with a short neck, a comparatively large and unwieldy dog tires himself terribly by the necessity for crouching in his fast pace.

   • 2000, Michael James, That'll Teach You!:

     Susan Bennett sat rigid, smoothing her skirt round her chumpy thighs and fixing her gaze on the wall above Marissa Caldwell.

2. (slang, of a person) Blockheaded; dim-witted.
3. (slang, mildly insulting) Like a chump; annoying.

Synonyms

• (short and fat): dumpy, dubby

References

• “chumpy, a.” listed in the Oxford English Dictionary [2nd ed., 1989]
    Defined in the first sense (“short and fat”) only.
• John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary