thicc

What does thicc mean?

Thicc is a slang term that means “attractively full-figured; thickset.” It is used to compliment curvy women or brawny men, and often humorously applied to husky animals or hefty objects.

Examples of thicc

Big, thicc, curvyyyy. Love the body that I am in.
—@abzeede, Threads, 4 Dec. 2024

I want to see all kinds of thighs this summer. Toned thighs, thicc thighs, thighs that have never even seen a gym.
—Hanna Phifer, Harper’s Bazaar, 7 May 2021

Bruno the cat is full-figured, right down to his “thicc” polydactyl paws — and people across the Interwebs cannot get enough of him. Luckily, there’s a lot of him to go ’round.
—Saryn Chorney, People, 22 Aug. 2018

Where does thicc come from?

Thicc is an intentional misspelling of thick (“heavily built”), used in African American English since at least the 1990s to describe a woman as “voluptuous.” This spelling is found in the early 2000s and spread into the mainstream by the mid-2010s (especially popularized by its use in hip-hop). In the late 2010s it gained further prominence after it was used in memes humorously referring to certain cartoon characters, including some from SpongeBob SquarePants.

As an intentional misspelling, thicc joins many other instances in slang, especially online, where words are deliberately modified for emphasis, irony, or group identification. The specific respelling of -ck as -cc in thicc occurs in a few other slang words, notably snacc, for snack (“an attractive person”) as well as in some altered vulgarisms, likely for sexually playful effect.

How is thicc used?

While thicc is more commonly used of women, it increasingly describes men, particularly of stocky or muscular builds. In both cases, the term is meant as a compliment. That said, as with any term that refers to a person’s weight or body, calling someone thicc may be considered inappropriate, depending on speaker and context. When referring to animals or objects, it is generally meant with a humorous, playful, or ironic tone or intent. Thicc also appears in a number of expressions, including: dummy thicc, or “incredibly thicc”; thicc boi, or “thicc individual,” and slim thicc, which describes a curvy but trim physique.