fattening

fattening — adjective

1. describing food or drink that has a high content of fats, sugars, or calories an

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

describing food or drink that has a high content of fats, sugars, or calories and is therefore likely to add body weight to the person who eats or drinks it regularly.

Example

Leila avoids fattening desserts because she is training for a marathon.

attributive use: fattening + noun (desserts)

This cheese sauce is so fattening that I only eat it on special occasions.

predicative: be + so + fattening + that ...

Common collocations
  • fattening food
  • fattening dessert
  • fattening snack
  • fattening meal
  • fattening ingredients
  • highly fattening
  • less fattening
  • extremely fattening
Synonyms
  • high-calorie

    neutral term focusing on energy content; does not necessarily imply weight gain

  • rich

    describes food heavy in butter, cream, or sugar; usually positive in tone

  • calorie-dense

    technical; precise about the ratio of calories to weight or volume

Antonyms
  • low-calorie

    opposite in energy density; often used in diet contexts

  • slimming

    suggests the food or habit helps reduce body weight

Grammar Patterns

fattening + noun

be/seem + fattening

Usage Note

Only used for foods, drinks, and meals — never for people or animals (e.g. 'He is fattening' is incorrect; say 'He is gaining weight'). Can appear before a noun ('fattening dessert') or after a linking verb ('this sauce is fattening').

Common Mistakes

I stopped eating this cake because it is fat.
I stopped eating this cake because it is fattening.
'fat' describes a person or animal's size; 'fattening' describes food that causes weight gain.
He is very fattening these days.
He is gaining a lot of weight these days.
'fattening' describes food, not people.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adjective/1

All four words describe food that contains a lot of energy, but they differ in tone and nuance. 'Fattening' is the most direct and slightly negative term — it focuses on the effect of weight gain, so a health-conscious person might say 'I avoid fattening desserts.' 'High-calorie' is more neutral and factual; a nutrition label says 'high-calorie' but never 'fattening.' 'Rich' has a positive or indulgent connotation — a chef calls a sauce 'rich' to praise its creamy taste, not to warn about calories. 'Calorie-dense' is a technical term used in dietetics or fitness writing for the ratio of calories per gram. Compare: a doctor warns about 'fattening snacks'; a food package says 'high-calorie meal'; a menu boasts 'rich chocolate cake'; a sports nutrition guide mentions 'calorie-dense supplements.'

fattening ↗high-calorierich ↗calorie-dense

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • fattening foods
  • highly fattening
  • less fattening alternative
  • fattening ingredients

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The word comes from the Old English 'fætt', meaning well-fed or plump, which became 'fat' in modern English. The suffix '-en' was added to form the verb 'fatten' (meaning 'to make or become fat'), and then '-ing' was added to create the adjective 'fattening', describing something that causes weight gain. The adjective has been used in English since at least the 1700s, originally in farming contexts to describe feed for livestock before being applied to human food in the 1900s.