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bulky

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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Etymology

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From Middle English bulki, boulky, equivalent to bulk +‎ -y.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /ˈbʌlki/
  • Audio (US):(file)

Adjective

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bulky (comparative bulkier, superlative bulkiest)

  1. Being large in size, mass, or volume; big, fat or muscular.
    • 1958 February, David Gunston, “Railways on the Screen”, in Railway Magazine, page 87:
      Action such as this, filmed under great difficulty with a bulky, hand-cranked camera, revealed the possibilities of the movies and was quite startling in those early days.
    • 1960 March, G. Freeman Allen, “Europe's most luxurious express - the "Settebello"”, in Trains Illustrated, page 140:
      Needless to say, one's seat must be booked in advance and a platoon of urbane officials, one to each door of the train, awaits passengers to usher them to their seats and relieve them of their bulkier baggage.
    • 2025 October 21, Rose George, “‘I knew in my head we were dying’: the last voyage of the Scandies Rose”, in The Guardian‎[1]:
      The captain did a safety drill. This covered where the emergency position-indicating radio beacon (EPIRB) was located, how to make a mayday call, and where the fire extinguishers were. A crew member demonstrated how to put on an immersion suit. These survival suits are waterproof full-body garments with a hood and integral three-finger gloves and boots. They are bulky and hard to get on but far more likely to save your life in cold water than a lifejacket.
  2. Unwieldy.
  3. (bodybuilding) Having excess body mass, especially muscle.

Derived terms

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Translations

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