portly

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

But instead of portly people enjoying futuristic entertainment, we will all be skinnier thanks to today’s GLP-1 medications.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 23, 2026

Veytia, a portly figure with a bushy mustache, seemed an unlikely Eliot Ness, but he was credited with reducing violence and hailed as “the terror of every criminal” in a laudatory corrido, or ballad.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2025

For a long time, Kundan Lal Gujral - whom the newspaper described as "a portly, florid" man with a "splendid moustache" - was credited for the booming success.

From BBC • Jan. 27, 2024

As I grew up, a frequent refrain from friends and family members—in particular my zaftig aunts and portly uncles—was to opine about how they wished they were slim like me.

From Slate • Oct. 4, 2023

But portly and overfed though she was from living in the comfort of a zoo, even so she tipped the scales at barely 110 pounds.

From "Life of Pi" by Yann Martel