Meaning & use
callipygous
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Meaning
adjectivecomparableliteraryhumorousrare
Having beautifully shaped buttocks; used humorously or in art writing, mostly about statues or paintings.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a linking verb: a callipygous statue.
Patterns
- a callipygous figure
- a callipygous statue
The museum's best-known sculpture is a callipygous Venus.
The art critic described the painted goddess as callipygous.
The novel mocks a callipygous nobleman who loves to admire himself.
Common combinations
- callipygous Venus
- The callipygous Venus is a famous ancient statue in Naples.
- callipygous figure
- The painter favored the callipygous figure in his nudes.
- callipygous statue
- A callipygous statue stood at the center of the garden.
- callipygous beauty
- The poem praised her callipygous beauty in playful terms.
Synonyms and how they differ
- shapely
- Shapely is a plain, widely used word for a pleasing body shape, whereas callipygous is far more learned and specifically about the buttocks.
- curvaceous
- Curvaceous describes the whole body as having attractive curves, not just the rear, so it is less specific than callipygous.
- well-rounded
- Well-rounded is casual and can mean balanced in general, so it needs context to share the meaning of callipygous.
Word family
- callipygian adjective
- an alternative form with the same meaning
- Callipyge proper noun
- an epithet of Aphrodite meaning the goddess of beautiful buttocks
Commonly confused: callipygous or calligraphic?
callipygous vs calligraphic
Calligraphic relates to beautiful handwriting and shares the Greek root for beauty, but has nothing to do with the body.
Practice
A critic who calls a marble Venus callipygous is praising her ______.
Choose one answer.
Callipygous comes from Greek words meaning beautiful and buttocks. Handwriting, a singing voice and a facial expression are described by other words.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “callipygous”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.