pudge

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word pudge. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word pudge, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say pudge in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word pudge you have here. The definition of the word pudge will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofpudge, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.
Particularly: “Perhaps a back-formation from pudgy, or an alteration of podge, and/or sound-symbolic.”

Pronunciation

Noun

pudge (countable and uncountable, plural pudges)

  1. Something short and fat.
  2. Excess body fat.
    • 2002, extract from Christine Lincoln, Sap Rising, in Marita Golden, E. Lynn Harris (editors), Gumbo: An Anthology of African American Writing, Random House (Broadway Books), page 676,
      The smell of her skin and hair after I have given her a bath, me nibbling at the layers of pudge on her legs and arms, around her neck—I drown in the scent of all that innocence.
    • 2008, Deb Caletti, The Fortunes of Indigo Skye, Simon & Schuster (Simon Pulse), page 41:
      Their faces are long and graceful and missing the pudge of the others.
    • 2015, Larry Kramer, The American People: Volume 1: Search for My Heart, Farrar, Straus & Giroux, page 151:
      He is high-booted (over rather skinny legs), with a tiny bit of a paunch showing, an intimation of genital endowment, and a sort of nice half smile (a tidge of pudge in the cheeks and jowls), his left hand leaning against and rather caressing a very bold phallic cannon's spout.

Usage notes

  • Sometimes used (capitalised) as a mildly derogatory nickname.
  • Occasionally used as a nonsense word in light poetry.

See also