chubby

/ˈt͡ʃʌbi/

//ˈt͡ʃʌbi// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"chubby" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“chubby” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,435. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,435
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a person: slightly overweight, somewhat fat, and hence plump, rounded, and soft.

Corpus desk

Index EN-chubby · chubby · English

chubby · rank #16,435 · 8 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,435
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH chow

Nearest frequency peer: chow (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbourhood for “chubby”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “chubby” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

chubby vs cubby
83% similar
chubby vs chunky
67% similar
chubby vs Chucky
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for chubby
PropertyValue
Headwordchubby
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈt͡ʃʌbi/
Letters6
Frequency rank#16,435
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “chubby” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).chubbylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “chow” (#16,434), “clement” (#16,436), “chlorine” (#16,433). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around chubby (IPA /ˈt͡ʃʌbi/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #16,435 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for chubby, with forms such as "cchubby", "chbuby", and "chhubby". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "cubby", "chunky", "Chucky", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Recorded since 1611, from chub (“short, thick fish species used as bait"; used metaphorically since 1558 for "lazy person”), an assibilated form of cub (“a lump, heap, mass”) and cob, from Middle English *cubbe (found only in derivative cubbel (“a block to … The correct English form is chubby, spelled C-H-U-B-B-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a person: slightly overweight, somewhat fat, and hence plump, rounded, and soft.
  2. 2
    Of a body part: containing a moderate amount of fat.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how chubby appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Obviously the chubby child was eating too much.
  2. Slowly Skye wrapped her arms around the chubby woman's frame and rested her head on Rita's chest drenched with perspiration.

Etymology

Recorded since 1611, from chub (“short, thick fish species used as bait"; used metaphorically since 1558 for "lazy person”), an assibilated form of cub (“a lump, heap, mass”) and cob, from Middle English *cubbe (found only in derivative cubbel (“a block to which an animal is tethered”)), from Old Norse kubbr, kumbr (“block, stump, log”) and/or Old Norse kumben (“stumpy”), equivalent to chub + -y. Cognate with dialectal Swedish kubbug (“fat, plump, chubby”). More at chub.

This word in other languages

gordito(Español)potelé(Français)mollig(Deutsch)rechonchudo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cchubby
  • chbuby
  • chhubby
  • chubbyy
  • chuby
  • chubyb
  • cuhbby
  • hcubby

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of chubby - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cchubby1chbuby2chhubby1chubbyy1chuby1chubyb2cuhbby2hcubby2
Edit distance from "chubby"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "chubby"?
"chubby" is spelled C-H-U-B-B-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈt͡ʃʌbi/.
What does "chubby" mean?
As an adjective, "chubby" means: Of a person: slightly overweight, somewhat fat, and hence plump, rounded, and soft.
What words are commonly confused with "chubby"?
"chubby" is commonly confused with "cubby", "chunky", "Chucky". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "chubby"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chubby" is /ˈt͡ʃʌbi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "chubby"?
Recorded since 1611, from chub (“short, thick fish species used as bait"; used metaphorically since 1558 for "lazy person”), an assibilated form of cub (“a lump, heap, mass”) and cob, from Middle English *cubbe (found only in derivative cubbel (“a... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "chubby", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

creamy#16,445bearer#16,413Dustin#16,458fiddle#16,469

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

glossy8 variantshopping8 variantsVance8 variantsillicit8 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "chubby". Here's where to go from here.

  • "chubby" maps to 5 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "cubby". View pair
  • 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #16,435 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list