Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Stately or dignified in mien; of noble appearance and carriage.
- Stout; somewhat large and unwieldy in person.
- Swelling.
GNU Webster's 1913
WordNet 3.0
- adj. euphemisms for `fat'
Etymologies
- From port + -ly. (Wiktionary)
- From port5. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“One evening in mid-February, he called the portly man to speak with him after lecture, and, with what geniality he could, explained to him the details of his library project and told whom he had chosen for librarian.”
“Jaho, who could herself be described as portly, said it was important to try to reduce the chronic illnesses associated with a sedentary lifestyle.”
“And suddenly Tomas recalled the portly po'liceman handing him the denunciation of none other than this tall editor with the big chin.”
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
“Number two," he said to himself, recalling the portly Mexican -- and the voice.”
“Ease, music, money-making, the affairs of his harem and the bringing-up of his children, are his chief interests, and his plump pale face with long-lashed hazel eyes, his curling beard and fat womanish hands, recall the portly potentates of”
“Hbaf may be your conditioa portly, which is not y#uj”
Internet Archive: The Whole Works of the Reverend Mr. John Flavel ...
“And he got down on all fours, and he was kind of portly at the time - like he is now, actually - and his stomach was peeking out from beneath his shirt.”
The Washington Post: Russ Grimm and the origins of "The Hogs"
“When I described Nilas Martins as "portly" in The New York Times and Mark Morris as "obese" in the Times Literary Supplement, those remarks were also greeted with silence.”
“Complainants are 'portly', 'disheveled', 'live with their mothers', 'not normal'...”
Violence Breaks Out at Funnybook Signing | Comics Should Be Good! @ Comic Book Resources
“I've actually heard it said that if you're a Black man and you're kind of portly, well then that means if you're playing a character with children that there's a new stereotype the pappy.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘portly’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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2nd part
prelude, ample, escalate, prototype, accession, acquisition, archives, zealot, indict, verdict, intimidating, timid and 454 more...
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I am : physical
Describing appearance and physique. More quantitative than qualitative/comparative. Can be used to sum a person up one-wordedly. (Still working on the definition of what I want in this list.)
handsome, beautiful, pretty, comely, ugly, rugged, buxom, buff, chiseled, svelte, lithe, portly and 35 more...
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intueri's Words
inveigle, dolorous, archly, feckless, resplendent, concatenation, peripatetic, delightful, cookie, fey, ephemeral, effervescent and 347 more...
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the first list
an immense, grandiloquent list that loads like a thousand years sentence in stone. new words are in the other lists.
ridiculous, brummagem, predicament, sanctimonious, vapid, eschew, admonish, auspicious, capitulation, enumerate, lachrymose, tenet and 1648 more...
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kingofbash's Words
bash, poleaxed, salacious, libertine, charlatan, aplomb, fortuitous, finagle, apoplectic, debutante, carte blanche, aardvark and 472 more...
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colleen's words ii
sibilant, sundry, spindle, distaff, device, mortar, pestle, scythe, flail, thresh, frown, elementary and 495 more...
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simple & useful2
nitwit, roguish, racketeering, mannerisms, aerialist, mangling, ineradicable, rickety, blatantly, libidinal, bungalow, axiomatic and 96 more...
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ADW1
obdurate, obstinate, behest, injunction, enjoin, circumspect, ensconce, discursive, lugubrious, doleful, somber, ken and 2476 more...
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tomax's Words
legerdemain, yayo, extravasation, wont, faze, coxswain, concomitant, enclave, unguent, rhabdomyolysis, effluent, puerile and 432 more...
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Moby-Dick
Interesting words and usages.
hypo, spile, hunks, grapnel, squitchy, skrimshander, monkey jacket, direful, grego, wrapall, dreadnaught, bosky and 158 more...
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savage215's Words
pipe, yankee, knickerbocker, tennis, plasma, magma, volcano, car, truck, television, tv, word and 445 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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p is for...
my favorite voiceless bilabial plosive.
panacea, persnickety, panache, provenance, preternatural, penumbra, perfunctory, perspicacity, potentate, pinguid, plainsong, pleonastic and 228 more...
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circumscribe
silty, lettuce, ingratiate, circumscribe, defection, fastidious, indolently, mitigate, inwardness, twined, deference, mottled and 100 more...
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From Book - SAT & College Dictionary ...
ebb, exotic, immure, abeyance, panegyric, debonair, protege, dissipate, frantic, penitent, abject, edify and 871 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for portly.
bilby This etymology isn't much use given we don't know which definition port5 refers to. Feb 24, 2013
hernesheir (adj): handsome, imposing. Original sense as recorded in the OED. Jan 16, 2009
yarb But he was stopped on the way by a portly sperm whale, that begged a few moments' confidential business with him. That business consisted in fetching the Commodore's craft such a thwack, that with all his pumps going he made straight for the nearest port to heave down and repair.
- Melville, Moby-Dick, ch. 45 Jul 24, 2008