portly
/ˈpɔɹtli/adjective
portly is spelled P-O-R-T-L-Y: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, portly means “Somewhat fat, pudgy, overweight” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in portly?
| Letters | 6: P-O-R-T-L-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 4 million words; the 58,063rd 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 portly?
Portly appears about once in every 4 million words in written English, the 58,063rd 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 portly?
- UK /ˈpɔːtli/
- US /ˈpɔɹtli/
- US /ˈpoʊɹtli/
Portly 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-portly.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with portly?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as portly from its last stressed vowel (/ɔɹtli/):
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 portly
- portlier comparative
- portliest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does portly mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Somewhat fat, pudgy, overweight.
- 2
archaicHaving a dignified bearing; handsome, imposing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Portly in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense euphemism for fat:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | fort, corpulent |
| German | korpulent, vollschlank, beleibt, stattlich, behäbig, würdevoll |
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 portly come from?
From an archaic sense of port (“manner in which a person carries himself; bearing; deportment; carriage”) + -ly.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).