stubby

adjective

stub·​by ˈstə-bē 

stubbier; stubbiest

1

: abounding with stubs

2

a

: resembling a stub : being short and thick

stubby fingers

b

: being short and thickset : squat

c

: being short, broad, or blunt (as from use or wear)

an old stubby pencil

Synonyms

• chunky
• dumpy
• heavyset
• squat
• squatty
• stocky
• stout
• stumpy
• thickset

Examples of stubby in a Sentence

hands with thick stubby fingers

My dog has a short stubby tail.

Recent Examples on the Web

Each tiny, invisible micron-scale robot is patterned with hundreds of even tinier nano-scale magnets, some long and thin, and some short and stubby, Cornell says. —John Koetsier, Forbes, 3 Dec. 2024

By Wim’s side through thick and thin is his best friend, Neel (Robert Timothy Smith), a blue elephant boy with a stubby trunk, wispy hair that looks like raspberry cotton candy, and ears that droop down over his shoulders. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 2 Dec. 2024

Judge Reinhold, as an overly genteel young detective whom Foley brings into the adult world, and John Ashton, as Reinhold’s surly, stubby older partner, carry a burden as big as Murphy’s through the second half of the picture. —David Denby, Vulture, 3 July 2024

Simplicity, understood like this, is complexity well tended, just as a long, graceful line is a collection of stubby ones, tamed but not deadened. —Jackson Arn, The New Yorker, 7 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

stubby

adjective

stub·​by ˈstəb-ē 

: resembling a stub especially in shortness and broadness

stubby fingers