thick around the middle
1
5.5
- idiom
- Theseus is nude and quite thick around the middle.
- a little thick around the middle
Examples
-
She noticed that her favorite jeans became tighter because she had gotten a little thick around the middle recently.
-
As she got older, Mrs. Kovaks's looks started to go, and she got thick around the middle.
Fiction book (1990) -
He's gotten a little thick around the middle.
-
She is short, thick around the middle, with little feet crammed into strappy shoes that look strained.
Fiction book (2000) -
As he aged, he became noticeably thick around the middle, indicating he had gained some weight.
-
After the holidays, many people find themselves feeling a bit thick around the middle due to indulging in festive foods.
Synonyms
28
1.0
Having a solid wide body or wide arms and legs
3
7.4
A person with a large belly that sticks out around the middle
1
3.5
Having a large round belly
1
3.7
A person or animal with a round belly that sticks out
Having a rounded shape that sticks out from the middle of the body
Antonyms
How Overweight
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'having extra fat around the waist' is directly and compositionally derived from 'thick' (broad/stocky) combined with the locative phrase 'around the middle' indicating the waist area. This straightforward spatial/body-description pattern is common and likely understandable to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The phrase thick around the middle comes from a simple picture: when someone's middle, that is the waist, is wider they look thick there. So the expression is used to say a person has extra fat 'around the waist' or is 'a little overweight'.