Portliest

Part of speech: adjective

Definitions

1. Characterizing someone as notably stout or bulky, particularly in terms of their physical appearance
2. Describing a person as significantly overweight or very corpulent, often with a sense of dignity
3. Pertaining to an individual who is impressively heavy-set or rotund, commonly suggesting a robust presence

Etymology: "Portliest" is the superlative of "portly", so it describes the greatest degree of a quality that began as a matter of bearing rather than body size. The root is "port" in an archaic sense meaning a person's manner of carrying themselves: their bearing, deportment or carriage. A portly person, in the original sense, was someone of stately, dignified presence, and the suffix "-ly" turned that noun into an adjective describing such a figure. Over time the emphasis shifted from how a person held themselves to how much they weighed. The dignity stayed attached, which is why the word still tends to flatter a heavy man more than it insults him, while the physical sense came to dominate. "Portliest," then, names the most imposing bearing in a room, though the body it describes is now the main thing being noticed.

Synonyms: heaviest, roundest, fattest, stoutest, bulkiest

Antonyms: slimmest, thinnest, leanest, slenderest, skinniest