Obesity: meaning, definitions and examples

Obesity is a medical term used to describe excessive body fat that increases the risk of health problems. It is often used in clinical or formal discussions.

• Obesity can lead to serious health issues such as diabetes and heart disease.
• The doctor advised him to lose weight to avoid obesity.

Overweight describes someone who has more body weight than is considered healthy. It is commonly used in everyday conversation and less formal contexts.

• Many children nowadays are overweight due to poor diet and lack of exercise.
• I need to exercise more because I'm starting to feel a bit overweight.

Heaviness refers to the quality of being heavy and can be used to describe weight in a more neutral way. It can apply to both objects and people but is less clinical than 'obesity'.

• He felt a sense of heaviness after eating too much dessert.
• The heaviness of the suitcase made it hard to lift.

Corpulence is a somewhat old-fashioned or literary term for being very fat. It's often used in more formal or descriptive writing.

• His corpulence made it difficult for him to move quickly.
• The novel described the character's corpulence in great detail.