portly

adjective

port·​ly ˈpȯrt-lē How to pronounce portly (audio)
portlier; portliest
Synonyms of portlynext
1
: dignified, stately
2
: heavy or rotund of body : stout
portliness noun

Synonyms of portly

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of portly in a Sentence

a portly gentleman who clearly didn't get enough exercise walked with the portly grace of the grande dame that she was
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Oh, and being a bit on the portly side couldn't hurt one's chance's, either. — Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 22 July 2023 That’s when the portly orphan, who was riding in the van with her, slices off her face to wear it as his own. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 18 Feb. 2022 In Facebook groups dedicated to Texas barbecue fandom, a recently popular meme shows a portly man dancing on a stripper pole. — Elizabeth Findell, WSJ, 9 Mar. 2022 The portly, silver-haired son of a Breton fisherman viewed himself as a man with a mission — to keep France French under the banner of the National Front. — Thomas Adamson, Los Angeles Times, 7 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for portly

Word History

Etymology

port entry 3

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of portly was in the 15th century

Rhymes for portly

See All Rhymes for portly

Browse Nearby Words

Port Louis
portly
Port Macquarie pine
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Portly.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/portly. Accessed 7 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

portly

adjective
port·​ly ˈpōrt-lē How to pronounce portly (audio)
ˈpȯrt-
portlier; portliest
: heavy of body : stout
portliness noun

More from Merriam-Webster on portly

Nglish: Translation of portly for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List

One-Word Oxymorons: Bittersweet, Spendthrift, and More

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
hangman letters and game
Hangman Lightning Round Figure out which word fits in the blanks.
See All