▪ I. pudgy, a.1
(ˈpʌdʒɪ)
[In form and sense a deriv. of pudge1, and a doublet of podgy, both forms being frequent in Thackeray, to whom the current use is app. largely due. If pudsy, pudsey (1754) was the same word, it would be the earliest member of the group, which otherwise appears only in the 19th c.; but its connexion is doubtful.]
Short and thick or fat.
| 1836 Dickens Sk. Boz, Parish i, The vestry clerk..is a short, pudgy little man in black. 1837 Thackeray Ravenswing i, Their fingers is always so very fat and pudgy. 1840 ― Catherine ii, A fat, pudgy pale-haired woman..leaning on the Captain's arm. 1862 Athenæum 27 Sept. 403 A very short, pudgy omnibus. |
▪ II. pudgy, a.2 dial.
(ˈpʌdʒɪ)
[f. pudge2 + -y.]
Muddy, miry.
| 1827 Clare Sheph. Cal. 162 And litter'd straw in all the pudgy sloughs. |