obese
/oʊˈbis/adjective, noun
obese is spelled O-B-E-S-E: 5 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, obese means “Extremely overweight, especially: weighing more than 20% (for men) or 25% (for women) over their conventionally ideal weight determined by height and…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in obese?
| Letters | 5: O-B-E-S-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 4.8 times per million words; the 11,541st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is obese?
Obese appears 4.8 times per million words in written English, the 11,541st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce obese?
- US /oʊˈbis/
- UK /əʊˈbiːs/
- UK /əˈbiːs/
Obese has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-obese.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with obese?
9 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as obese from its last stressed vowel (/is/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of obese
- more obese comparative
- obeser comparative
- most obese superlative
- obesest superlative
- obeses plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does obese mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Extremely overweight, especially: weighing more than 20% (for men) or 25% (for women) over their conventionally ideal weight determined by height and build; or, having a body mass index over 30 kg/m².
noun
- 1
A person who is obese.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Obese in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | obèse |
| German | fettleibig, fettsüchtig, adipös , Fettleibiger, Fettleibige, Fettsüchtiger |
| Portuguese | obeso |
| Spanish | obeso |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does obese come from?
From Latin obēsus, derived from obedō (“to devour, eat away”), from ob (“away”) + edō (“to eat”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).