dump ‧ y /ˈdʌmpi/ BrE AmE adjective
[ Date: 1700-1800 ; Origin: dump 'small shapeless piece' (18-19 centuries) ]
someone who is dumpy is fat, short, and unattractive:
a dumpy little man
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THESAURUS
■ person
▪ short someone who is short is not as tall as most people:
He was a short fat man.
▪ not very tall quite short. This phrase sounds more gentle than saying that someone is short :
She wasn’t very tall – maybe about 1.60 m.
▪ small short and with a small body:
My mother was a small woman.
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The girl was quite small for her age (=smaller than other girls of the same age) .
▪ petite used about a woman who is attractively short and thin:
She was a petite woman with blonde hair.
▪ stocky used about a boy or man who is short, heavy, and strong:
Harry was stocky and middle-aged.
▪ dumpy short and fat:
a dumpy girl with red hair
▪ diminutive formal literary very short or small – used especially in descriptions in novels:
a diminutive figure dressed in black
▪ stubby stubby fingers or toes are short and thick:
the baby’s stubby little fingers