tjock

Tjock is a Swedish adjective meaning thick or fat. It describes the physical thickness or density of objects, as in en tjock bok (a thick book) or en tjock vägg (a thick wall). It can also describe people, indicating overweight, though using tjock to refer to a person is often considered insulting or impolite unless used in a neutral or contextually clear way. Colloquial forms include tjockis, a pejorative noun for a heavyset person. The adverbial form is tjockt, and the plural feminine form is tjocka.

In compound phrases, tjock is commonly used to convey measurable bulk or density, such as mjuk och tjock (soft and thick) or tjockt skägg (thick beard). The word is versatile in figurative speech as well, for example describing dense prose or congestion as tjock.

Etymology and related forms: tjock originates in the Germanic language tradition and has cognates in closely related Scandinavian languages. It is etymologically linked to words across the Germanic family that express bulk, density, or largeness. In Swedish, tjock shares semantic field with other terms for size and texture, and its usage parallels how similar adjectives function in neighboring languages.

Usage considerations: while tjock is common in everyday speech, referring to a person as tjock can be sensitive. When precision or a neutral description is required, terms such as överviktig or bulky may be preferred, depending on context.