Word.ws English Dictionary

dumpy

/ˈdʌmpi/

dumpy adjective: short and thick; stout or stocky. Also the ellipsis of dumpy level.

Adjective (1)

dumpy (comparative dumpier, superlative dumpiest)

  1. Short and thick; stout or stocky.

Noun (1)

dumpy (plural dumpies)

  1. A short, stout person or animal, especially one of a breed of very short-legged chickens.
    • Yet I don't like dumpies either, and Brown says she is little and stout—the better fitted for a wiry, starved-looking chap like you.1857, Charlotte Brontë, The Professor, Smith, Elder & Co., page 102
  2. (South Africa) A small bottle of beer.
    • Lager-style beer comes in cans or dumpies (small bottles) for around US$1.10.2007, Alan Murphy, Southern Africa, page 414
    • “Once you start drinking you have many friends drinking with you,” the University of Johannesburg student explained. “I drink whiskey and I drink beer. I drink heavily on weekends but during the week I have about three or four dumpies. I don’t pass out. I just get drunk,” he said.2011 July 29, Nalisha Kalideen, “Binge drinking rife at universities”, in Mail & Guardian

Adjective (2)

dumpy (comparative dumpier, superlative dumpiest)

  1. Of or relating to a garbage dump; rubbishy.
    • "I knew it!" Barry screeched. "A dump bike for the dummy. Hey, dumpy boy. Dumper! Ha, haaaaaaaaagh!"1983, John Bibee, The Magic Bicycle, page 17
    • At first, I had no idea you had money, and you didn't seem like a snoot. The place where you were renting was a dumpy place. When you turned out to have money, I was surprised.1990 February 4, Vanessa Nemeth, Stephanie Poggi, “Bumps And All”, in Gay Community News, volume 17, number 29, page 12

Noun (2)

dumpy (plural dumpies)

  1. (slang) Synonym of dump truck (“prominent buttocks”).
    • When her animation students at Kansas City Art Institute kept asking why the moms in Pixar have dump-truck asses, Bona Bones […] knew she had to share the answer beyond just the classroom. That’s how she found herself making a TikTok to directly answer the question: “Why do all Pixar moms have such...2022 June 17, Jodie Walker, “What’s Really Behind the Pixar Dump-Truck Meme? A Ringer Investigation.”, in The Ringer
    Synonyms:
    dump truck

Also used as

dumpy is also the ellipsis of dumpy level.

Synonyms of dumpy

Forms of dumpy

Adjective
comparativedumpier
superlativedumpiest
Noun
pluraldumpies

Origin of dumpy

First attested in 1750; exact origin unknown. Perhaps derived from, or cognate with, dumpling, or from the noun sense of dump.

From dump + -y.

Words formed from dumpy

Phrases with dumpy

Words that rhyme with dumpy

8 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about dumpy

What does dumpy mean?
Dumpy means short and thick; stout or stocky.
What part of speech is dumpy?
Dumpy can be an adjective or a noun.
How do you pronounce dumpy?
Dumpy is pronounced /ˈdʌmpi/.

Words near dumpy in the dictionary

  1. Dumpton
  2. dumptruck
  3. dumptrucks
  4. dumpty
  5. dumpukht
  6. dumpy
  7. dumpy level
  8. dumpy levels
  9. dumpy tree frog
  10. dumpy tree frogs
  11. dumpyard

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: dumpy (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Qwertygiy-dumpy.wav.

Cite this entry: “dumpy.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/dumpy. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.