Meaning & use
chubster
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Meaning
nouncountableinformalBritishhumorous
A playful, informal name for a person, usually a man or boy, who is a bit overweight.
Grammar: Countable: he is a bit of a chubster; often affectionate among friends.
Patterns
- a bit of a chubster
My little brother was a happy chubster until he hit his teens.
He laughed and called himself a chubster after seconds at dessert.
The coach joked that the team needed a few fewer chubsters in goal.
Word forms
| plural | chubsters |
|---|
Common combinations
- a happy chubster
- The baby was a happy chubster with round cheeks.
- a bit of a chubster
- He admitted he was a bit of a chubster at school.
- call someone a chubster
- Friends sometimes call him a chubster in fun.
- a cuddly chubster
- Their puppy was a cuddly chubster.
Synonyms and how they differ
- chubby
- Chubby is an adjective that is mild and common, while chubster is a slangy noun naming the person.
- tubby
- Tubby also describes a round body but sounds a little old-fashioned and slightly more teasing.
- plump
- Plump is more neutral and polite and is used for people, fruit and animals alike.
- podgy
- Podgy is British and a bit unkind, while chubster is meant to sound affectionate.
Opposites
Word family
- chub noun
- a type of freshwater fish, and the root of the slang form
- chubby adjective
- slightly overweight in a pleasant, rounded way
- chubbiness noun
- the state of being slightly round and plump
Commonly confused: chubster or hipster?
chubster vs hipster
Hipster uses the same -ster ending, but it names a fashionable person and has no link to body size.
Practice
The grandfather called the baby a happy ____ because of his round cheeks and soft arms.
Choose one answer.
Chubster is an affectionate slang word for a round-bodied person. The other nouns use -ster or -ete endings but have no link to body shape.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “chubster”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.