Definition

Adjective 1. Pleasantly plump and attractive; buxom; having a full, rounded, and cheerful appearance. This is the primary meaning, often used to describe a woman with a full, healthy, and appealing figure, typically implying a sense of good health and cheerful vitality. 2. Cheerful, good-natured, and pleasant. This meaning emphasizes a person's agreeable and jolly disposition.

Examples of Usage

• Adjective (describing appearance):
  • The painter was known for his portraits of sonsie country maidens with rosy cheeks.
  • She had a sonsie figure that was celebrated in the local folk songs.
• Adjective (describing disposition):
  • Despite the rain, she remained her usual sonsie self, spreading warmth to everyone in the room.
  • His sonsie nature made him a favorite among the children.

Advanced Usage

• The word sonsie (also spelled sonsy) is of Scottish origin and carries a distinctly warm, wholesome, and often rustic or traditional connotation. It is not a clinical or modern term for body type but one imbued with a sense of hearty, natural attractiveness and good cheer.

Variants and Related Words

• Sonsy (adj): An alternative spelling of with the same meanings.
• Buxom (adj): (Of a woman) plump and attractively curved, especially with a large bosom. This is a close synonym for the physical aspect of but lacks the explicit connotation of cheerfulness.
• Comely (adj): Pleasant to look at; attractive (typically of a woman). This shares the attractiveness aspect but is less specific about fullness of figure.
• Jovial (adj): Cheerful and friendly. This is a synonym for the dispositional aspect of .

Synonyms

• For appearance: Buxom, curvaceous, plump, shapely, comely, rubenesque.
• For disposition: Cheerful, jolly, good-natured, pleasant, affable.

Antonyms

• For appearance: Skinny, gaunt, slender, angular.
• For disposition: Gloomy, sullen, morose, unpleasant.

Related Idioms

• While not a direct idiom, the word itself often evokes the idiom "in rude health," meaning in robust and vigorous good health, which aligns with the wholesome connotation of .

Adjective

1. (of a woman's body) having a large bosom and pleasing curves
   • Hollywood seems full of curvaceous blondes
   • a curvy young woman in a tight dress