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Portly vs Plump - What's the difference?

portly | plump | Related terms |

As adjectives the difference between portly and plump

is that portly is somewhat fat, pudgy, overweight while plump is having a full and rounded shape; chubby, somewhat overweight.

As a verb plump is

to grow plump; to swell out.

As an adverb plump is

directly; suddenly; perpendicularly.

As a noun plump is

a knot or cluster; a group; a crowd.

portly

English

Adjective

(er)
  • Somewhat fat, pudgy, overweight.
  • * 1824 , , Tales of a Traveller , Introduction:
    • Indeed, the poor man has grown ten times as nervous as ever, since he has discovered, on such good authority, who the stout gentleman was. . . . He has anxiously endeavored to call up a recollection of what he saw of that portly personage; and has ever since kept a curious eye on all gentlemen of more than ordinary dimensions.
  • * 1913 , , The Little Nugget , ch. 14:
    • His portly middle section, rising beyond like a small hill, heaved rhythmically.
  • * 2011 July 6, Nick Carbone, " Top 10 Worst Fictional Camp Counselors," Time (retrieved 8 May 2014):
    • In Heavyweights , Tony Perkis (Ben Stiller) is a fitness guru who installs himself as the über-buff leader of Camp Hope, with the goal of helping portly youngsters shed their saggy stomachs and thunder thighs.
  • *1590 , (Edmund Spenser), The Faerie Queene , III.2:
  • *:Portly his person was, and much increast
    • Through his Heroicke grace and honourable gest.
  • * 1728 , , "A Dialogue between Mad Mullinix and Timothy":
    • Be studious well to imitate
    My portly motion, mien, and gait

    Usage notes

    * When used to refer to someone who is overweight, portly'' is a less harsh term than ''fat .

    Synonyms

    * See also

    Derived terms

    * portliness

    See also

    *

    plump

    English

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • To grow ; to swell out.
    • Her cheeks have plumped .
  • To drop or fall suddenly or heavily, all at once.
  • * Spectator
    • Dulcissa plumps into a chair.
  • To make plump; to fill (out) or support; often with up .
  • * Fuller
    • to plump up the hollowness of their history with improbable miracles
  • To cast or let drop all at once, suddenly and heavily.
    • to plump a stone into water
  • To give a plumper (kind of vote).
  • To give (a vote), as a plumper.
  • (used with for) To favor or decide in favor of something.
    • "A recent poll by the New York Times found that although most Brazilians plump for arch-rival Argentina as the team they most want to lose, the second-biggest group want Brazil itself to stumble." source: http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21600983-brazilian-workers-are-gloriously-unproductive-economy-grow-they-must-snap-out

    Adjective

    (en-adj)
  • Having a full and rounded shape; chubby, somewhat overweight.
  • * (Thomas Carew) (1595-1640)
    • The god of wine did his plump clusters bring.
  • *
  • Fat.

    • Synonyms

    * See also

    Antonyms

    * See also

    Adverb

  • Directly; suddenly; perpendicularly.

    • Noun

    (en noun)
  • (obsolete) A knot or cluster; a group; a crowd.
    • a plump of trees, fowls, or spears
    To visit islands and the plumps of men. — Chapman.

    References

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