voluptuous

English

Etymology

From Middle French voluptueux, from Latin voluptuōsus (“delightful”), from voluptās (“pleasure, delight”), from volup (“with pleasure”).

Pronunciation

• (US) IPA^(key): /vəˈlʌp.t͡ʃu.əs/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

voluptuous (comparative more voluptuous, superlative most voluptuous)

1. Characterized or marked by full, generous, pleasurable sensation.

   The plentiful blankets and the voluptuous pillows of the bed called out to my tired body.

   • 1749, [John Cleland], “(Please specify the letter or volume)”, in Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure [Fanny Hill], London: […] [Thomas Parker] for G. Fenton [i.e., Fenton and Ralph Griffiths] […], →OCLC:

     Thus we lay, whilst a voluptuous languor possest, and still maintain'd us motionless and fast locked in one another's arms

   • 1838, [Letitia Elizabeth] Landon (indicated as editor), chapter III, in Duty and Inclination: […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 24:

     It was upon riches he founded his claim to importance; riches could alone supply the enjoyments of luxury; those voluptuous pleasures upon which the sensualist refines, and without which life appears but a mere vegetative existence, unproductive of enjoyment.

2. (of a woman) Curvaceous and sexually attractive.

   The low neckline of her bodice emphasised her plump, voluptuous figure.

   • 2018, Nnedi Okorafor, Who Fears Death, HarperVoyager, page 35:

     She was very dark skinned and has a voluptuous figure that she showed off with her stylish purple dress.

Synonyms

• (pleasurable sensation): luxurious
• (curvaceous): See Thesaurus:voluptuous or Thesaurus:sexy

Derived terms

• voluptuously
• voluptuousness

Related terms

English terms derived from the Proto-Indo-European root *welh₁- (0 c, 15 e)

Translations

suggestive of or characterized by full, generous, pleasurable sensation

• Bulgarian: чувствен (bg) (čuvstven), сладостра́стен (bg) (sladostrásten)
• Catalan: voluptuós
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 奢侈的 (zh) (shēchǐ de), 豪華的 / 豪华的 (zh) (háohuá de), 體態豐滿的 / 体态丰满的 (tǐtài fēngmǎn de)

• Danish: sanselig, vellystig
• Finnish: nautinnollinen (fi), aistillinen (fi), hekumallinen
• French: voluptueux (fr), somptueux (fr), sensuel (fr)
• Galician: voluptuoso m
• Georgian: ვნებიანი (vnebiani), გრძნობითი (grʒnobiti)
• Irish: miangasach, macnasach, teaspúil
• Japanese: 官能的な (kannōteki na)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: vellystig

• Portuguese: voluptuoso (pt)
• Romanian: senzual (ro), voluptuos (ro)
• Russian: сладостра́стный (ru) (sladostrástnyj), сластолюби́вый (ru) (slastoljubívyj)
• Scottish Gaelic: sòghail
• Spanish: voluptuoso (es), sensual (es)
• Swedish: vällustig (sv)

curvaceous and sexually attractive

• Bulgarian: напета (bg) (napeta), сексапилна (bg) (seksapilna)
• Catalan: voluptuós
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 凹凸有致 (āotūyǒuzhì), 豐滿 / 丰满 (zh) (fēngmǎn), 肉感 (zh) (ròugǎn)

• Czech: vnadný (cs), kyprý
• Danish: frodig, yppig
• Dutch: voluptueus (nl)
• Finnish: muodokas (fi)
• French: voluptueux (fr), plantureux (fr)
• Galician: voluptuoso m
• Georgian: მოგოზილი (mogozili)
• Hungarian: telt (hu), dús idomú
• Icelandic: þrýstinn
• Irish: cuarúil
• Italian: formoso (it), voluttuoso (it)
• Japanese: 肉感的な (ja) (にっかんてきな, nikkanteki-na), 豊満な (ja) (ほうまんな, hōman-na)
• Latin: sūcidus
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: yppig

• Polish: ponętny (pl)
• Portuguese: voluptuoso (pt)
• Romanian: voluptuos (ro)
• Russian: пы́шный (ru) (pýšnyj), роско́шный (ru) (roskóšnyj), фигу́ристый (ru) (figúristyj), с краси́выми окру́глыми фо́рмами (s krasívymi okrúglymi fórmami)
• Serbo-Croatian: raskošnih oblina
• Spanish: voluptuoso (es)
• Swedish: frodig (sv), yppig (sv)
• Vietnamese: dâm (vi)

Further reading

• “voluptuous”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “voluptuous”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “voluptuous”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.