ずんぐりした
解説 Definition
短くて太っぽい体格を表す形容詞。重心が低く安定しているように見える様子。
Humpty is a rare adjective describing a person, animal, or figure as short, rounded, and thick-bodied. It suggests a squat or dumpy build and is strongly associated in modern readers’ minds with the character Humpty Dumpty.
覚え方のコツ Memory Tip
humpty は Humpty Dumpty の丸くずんぐりした姿と、hump「こぶ・盛り上がり」を結びつけて覚えます。例文の humpty figure、humpty build のように、短く太く重心の低い体つきを修飾します。ただし現代英語ではまれで、通常なら short and stout、stocky、squat などのほうが一般的です。
Link humpty with both hump, a rounded raised shape, and the familiar round-bodied figure of Humpty Dumpty. Picture a short, thick figure with a low center of gravity waddling across a room; that image matches phrases such as a humpty figure or a humpty build. The word is uncommon in present-day English, so treat it mainly as a descriptive or literary form. In ordinary conversation, stocky may suggest a solid, strong build, while squat or dumpy can convey the short, broad shape more directly. The nursery-rhyme association is the easiest reliable visual cue.
例文
The humpty figure waddled across the floor.
ずんぐりした体つきの人物は床をよちよち歩いた。
He had a humpty build with short, strong legs.
彼は短くて太い脚を持つずんぐりした体格をしていた。
The humpty dog could barely move.
ずんぐりした体つきの犬はほとんど動けなかった。
humpty の類義語・関連語
humpty の語源・成り立ち Etymology
humpty は hump（こぶ、盛り上がり）や humpy に関連する語とされますが、語尾を含む詳しい成立過程は確かではありません。Humpty Dumpty という名と、後世に定着した丸い卵形の姿によって、「ずんぐりした」という連想が強まりました。
Humpty is historically associated with forms such as humpy and with hump, referring to a rounded projection or bulky shape. It became especially familiar through the name Humpty Dumpty, whose later representation as a round, egg-shaped character reinforced the sense “short and thick.” The precise development of the ending is less certain, so the safest etymological connection is the established hump or humpy word family and the long-standing nursery-rhyme name.
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