stout
/staʊt
/adjective
1(Of a person) rather fat or of heavy build: stout middle-aged men...
- As the warden gazed out the open door, one of his underlings, a rather stout fellow named Mr. Hersby, approached the nervous man.
- It was the father; a rather short, stout man with a feathery blonde mustache, who spoke for the rest.
- She was stout, middle-aged, and veiny in the cheeks and nose.
Synonyms
fat, fattish, plump, portly, rotund, roly-poly, pot-bellied, round, dumpy, chunky, broad in the beam, overweight, fleshy, paunchy, corpulent;
buxom, well upholstered, well covered, well padded, of ample proportions, ample, rounded, well rounded;
stocky, burly, bulky, hefty, meaty, heavily built, solidly built, thickset, heavyset, sturdy, well built
informal hulking, tubby, pudgy, beefy, porky, blubbery, poddy
British informal podgy, fubsy
North American informal zaftig, corn-fed, lard-assed
archaic pursy
rare abdominous
2(Of an object) strong and thick: Billy had armed himself with a stout stick stout walking boots...
- At both locations, you can see various types of bamboos, from those as thin as an index finger to stout trunks that are thicker than an arm.
- For those with stout boots and stout hearts, there is a spectacular breathtaking, circular-kilometre walk from the abbey through the mountains.
- When walking in the mountains be sure to wear stout boots with a good grip.
Synonyms
strong, sturdy, heavy, solid, substantial, robust, tough, strongly made, durable, hard-wearing;
thick
3Having or showing courage and determination: he put up a stout defence in court...
- Only Giles, with a mixture of stout defence and calculated hitting, took England past 300, a total they should need to exceed in their second innings if they are to save, or indeed win, the game.
- While he might think it a stout defence of his membership, there are those who view that approach as ostrich-like, robbing us of any hope of his assistance in weeding out the bad guys.
- It's a stout defence of the ability of large corporations to sort themselves out while remaining profitably in one piece.
Synonyms
determined, full of determination, vigorous, forceful, spirited, stout-hearted;
staunch, steadfast, stalwart, firm, resolute, unyielding, unbending, unfaltering, unswerving, unwavering, unflinching, stubborn, dogged;
brave, bold, plucky, courageous, valiant, valorous, gallant, fearless, undaunted, dauntless, doughty, mettlesome, unafraid, intrepid, manly, heroic, lionhearted;
North American rock-ribbed
informal gutsy, spunky
noun [mass noun]
A kind of strong, dark beer brewed with roasted malt or barley: [count noun]: microbreweries specialize in ales and stouts...
- Beer can range from light ales to dark stouts depending on the proportions of malt and barley.
- The company brews its own selection of nine stouts, ales and lagers in Dublin using chemical-free, unpasteurised brewing methods.
- Don't substitute a dark ale or stout for the light beer here; it can be too bitter.
Derivatives
stoutish
- When I turned this small, stoutish, red-faced man was beckoning me to come back.
- The ringleader could be discerned as a stoutish fellow in a waistcoat.
- He was a small stoutish individual in a greasy black suit.
stoutness
/ noun ...- Rubinstein (born in Krakow, Poland, in 1872, and christened Chaya, which means Helena in Yiddish) was short, forever black-haired and inclined to stoutness.
- A consensus emerged that the stoutness of students was owing to the curtailment of physical exercise in schools, coupled with the availability of fizzy drinks from vending machines.
- True, he is given to a certain stoutness and fullness of frame, but it has been remarked that this well-apportioned girth rather adds to the majestic dignity of his bearing.
Origin
Middle English: from Anglo-Norman French and Old French dialect, of West Germanic origin; perhaps related to stilt. The noun (late 17th century) originally denoted any strong beer and is probably elliptical for stout ale.