tolstyj

Tolstyj is a transliteration of the Russian adjective Толстый, meaning "thick" or "fat." It is used to describe physical thickness or bulk in both people and objects. The masculine form is tolstyj, with feminine tolstaya and neuter tolstoe; the plural is tolstyye. Common alternative transliterations include tolstiy, tolstij, and, in some contexts, tolstoy when the word functions as a surname rather than as an ordinary adjective.

Etymology and cognates: Толстый derives from Proto-Slavic roots meaning “thick” or “dense.” It has cognates in many Slavic languages, such as Ukrainian tovstyj (товстий) and Polish tłusty (though Polish often carries additional senses like “greasy” as well). The word is closely related to terms for thickness and mass across the language family, but usage and nuance vary by language.

Morphology: As a standard adjective, tolstyj declines by gender, number, and case. Examples in nominative case: tolstyj chelovek (a fat man), tolstaya zhenshchina (a fat woman), tolstoe yabloko (a thick/large apple). In plural: tolstyye lyudi (fat people). Because of Cyrillic spelling, the root Толст- remains constant, with endings marking gender and number.

Usage and nuance: In Russian, толстыи̣й often carries a negative or neutral connotation depending on context, especially when describing a person. It can be considered rude or insulting when referring to someone’s body, though it may be descriptive in medical or colloquial contexts. For objects, толстой is commonly used to mean thick or bulky, as in толстая книга (a thick book) or толстое стекло (thick glass).

See also: Tolstoy (surname) can be encountered in transliteration as Tolstyj, but refers to a different use as a proper name.