fat

Universal Words adjective, noun adjective (fatter, fattest) 1 (of a person's or an animal's body) having too much flesh on it and weighing too much: a big fat man / woman * You'll get fat if you eat so much chocolate. * He grew fatter and fatter. * fat flabby legs 2 thick or wide: a fat volume on American history 3 [onlybeforenoun] (informal) large in quantity; worth a lot of money: a fat sum / profit * He gave me a nice fat cheque. fatness noun [U]: Fatness tends to run in families. IDIOMS (a) fat chance (of sth / doing sth) (spoken) used for saying that you do not believe sth is likely to happen: 'They might let us in without tickets.' 'Fat chance of that!' a fat lot of good, use, etc. (spoken) not at all good or useful: Paul can't drive so he was a fat lot of use when I broke my arm. noun 1 [U] a white or yellow substance in the bodies of animals and humans, stored under the skin: excess body fat * This ham has too much fat on it. 2 [C,U] a solid or liquid substance from animals or plants, treated so that it becomes pure for use in cooking: Cook the meat in shallow fat. 3 [C,U] animal and vegetable fats, when you are thinking of them as part of what a person eats: You should cut down on fats and carbohydrates. * foods which are low in fat * fat free yoghurts * reduced fat margarines IDIOMS see CHEWv., LIVE ______________________________ VOCABULARYBUILDING saying that someone is fat Fat is the most common and direct word, but it is not polite to say to someone that they are fat:Does this dress make me look fat? * _Y_o_u_'_r_e_ _l_o_o_k_i_n_g_ _f_a_t_ _n_o_w. Overweight is a more neutral word: I'm a bit overweight. It can also mean too fat, especially so that you are not fit. Large or heavy is less offensive than fat: She's a rather large woman. Big describes someone who is tall as well as fat: Her sister is a big girl, isn't she? Plump means slightly fat in an attractive way, often used to describe women. Chubby is used mainly to describe babies and children who are fat in a pleasant, healthy-looking way: the baby's chubby cheeks. Tubby (informal) is used in a friendly way to describe people who are short and round, especially around the stomach. Stocky is a neutral word and means fairly short, broad and strong. Stout is often used to describe older people who have a round and heavy appearance: a short stout man with a bald head. Flabby describes flesh that is fat and loose and it can sound offensive: exercises to firm up flabby thighs. Obese is used by doctors to describe people who are so fat that they are unhealthy. It is also used in a general way to mean 'really fat'. Note that although people talk a lot about their own size or weight, it is generally not considered polite to refer to a person's large size or their weight when you talk to them. -<noteatTHIN ______________________________ ______________________________ WORDFAMILY fat adj. fatty adj. fatten v. fattening adj. ______________________________