zaftig
UK/ˈzæf.tɪɡ/US/ˈzɑf.tɪɡ/
zaftig adjective: having a plump and sexually attractive figure; voluptuous, well-proportioned; large.
Adjective
zaftig (comparative more zaftig, superlative most zaftig)
- Having a plump and sexually attractive figure; voluptuous, well-proportioned; large.
- By his description the same broad. A zaftige piece too, in a mink stole.1953 September 18, Saul Bellow, chapter XXII, in The Adventures of Augie March […], New York, N.Y.: The Viking Press, →OCLC, page 460
- Sportcasters are drawn from three different talent pools. Some are professional media people, others are ex-coaches and the most zaftig lot are ex-players.1980, Washington Journalism Review, volume 2
- Synonyms:
- buxom, Rubenesque, voluptuous, built, chubby, curvaceous, curvesome, curvy, embonpoint, full-figured
Examples of zaftig in a sentence
- Well, a certain zaftig coed told this on herself.1980, Robert A. Heinlein, chapter VII, in The Number of the Beast, part 1, pages 61–62:
- Mrs Stahlbaum, a much more zaftig figure than the Housekeeper, wears a strawberry blonde wig with bangs, her hair tied back in a bun.1996, Gay Morris, “Moving Words: Re-Writing Dance”, in Gay Morris, editor, 9: "Styles of the Flesh": Gender in the Dances of Mark Morris...
- 1995 [Bill] Clinton has his first sexual encounter with zaftig intern [Monica] Lewinsky.2000 January 22, “D.C. 90210”, in Time, New York, N.Y.: Time Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Mar 2012:
- Tor's “old lady,” Bari, is a warmer zaftig presence.2022, Jennifer Egan, “What the Forest Remembers”, in The Candy House:
Synonyms of zaftig
11 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of zaftig
| comparative | more zaftig |
|---|---|
| superlative | most zaftig |
| alternative form | zoftig |
| alternative form | zaftige |
Origin of zaftig
From Yiddish זאַפֿטיק (zaftik), cognate to German saftig (“juicy”). Doublet of sappy.
Questions about zaftig
- What does zaftig mean?
- Zaftig means having a plump and sexually attractive figure; voluptuous, well-proportioned; large.
- How do you use zaftig in a sentence?
- Well, a certain zaftig coed told this on herself.
- What part of speech is zaftig?
- Zaftig is an adjective.
- How do you pronounce zaftig?
- Zaftig is pronounced /ˈzæf.tɪɡ/ (UK).
Words near zaftig in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: zaftig (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:
Cite this entry: “zaftig.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/zaftig. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.