blubbery

Blubbery is an English adjective with several related senses. It can describe something that is literally thick with blubber, the fatty tissue characteristic of marine mammals such as whales, seals, and walruses. It can also describe something that is excessively sentimental or tearful, or a person or performance that induces tears or melodrama.

The word derives from blubber, which means both the greasy fat of marine mammals and, as a verb, to sob noisily. The suffix -y forms adjectives indicating the presence or character of the stem notion. In this case, blubbery conveys a sense of abundance of fat or an abundance of emotion, depending on the context. The emotional sense is informal and often humorous or pejorative.

Usage notes: In zoological or descriptive contexts, blubbery can be neutral, simply indicating a thick layer of fat. In social or literary contexts, it tends toward informal, colloquial, or critical usage. It can be insulting if applied to a person, so it is generally avoided in formal writing. In cultural commentary, it is sometimes used to describe scenes, performances, or characters that are intentionally sentimental to an excessive, almost comical degree.

Examples of usage include: a blubbery layer of fat on a stranded whale (descriptive zoology); a blubbery display of emotion in a melodramatic scene (qualitative judgment); a blubbery voice or sob (emotional portrayal).