how to describe a man with a big belly?

[alpacinou]

Hello.

I intend to describe a man with a big belly. This guy is a villain in my story and I need to depict him in a negative light. What words can I use?

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/f8/83/26/f8832654f72984265150616da89e2720.jpg

Can I use "round-bellied"? Does that imply fat in a disgusting way?

 

[emsr2d2]

pot-bellied
has a beer belly
middle-age spread
rotund
jiggle belly

I wouldn't use "round-bellied".

 

[Tarheel]

A belly too big?
:-D

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Can I use "round-bellied"? Does that imply fat in a disgusting way?

No.

 

[alpacinou]

No.

How would you describe a fat disgusting man with a big round belly? I need the reader to hate the character.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

How would you describe a fat disgusting man with a big round belly? I need the reader to hate the character.

A different word won't help. To make readers hate him, have him do something odious or repulsive.

Remember, you can't say everything in one sentence.

 

[Tarheel]

Remember, you can't say everything in one sentence.

Charlie, you stole my line. ;-)

 

[alpacinou]

A different word won't help. To make readers hate him, have him do something odious or repulsive.

Remember, you can't say everything in one sentence.

Could you offer an example?

 

[Tarheel]

Maybe an act of cruelty. Maybe he could kick a cat or dog.

 

[emsr2d2]

Nothing in your writing should encourage people to hate someone just because they're fat.

 

[alpacinou]

Nothing in your writing should encourage people to hate someone just because they're fat.

Nope. He is a bad guy who happens to be fat. I want to accentuate that in such a way that make the reader hate him more.

 

[emsr2d2]

I don't understand what you're getting at. "Nope" suggests that you agree that someone's weight should not be a reason to hate them, but then you say you want to accentuate his fat belly in order to make the reader hate him more. If weight isn't a like/hate issue, then it doesn't matter what you say about his belly, it should have no effect on the reader's opinion of him. If you want them to hate him more, make him do or say more hateful things.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Nope. He is a bad guy who happens to be fat. I want to accentuate that in such a way that make the reader hate him more.

Sorry, but it won't work. If you want us to hate him, you have to give us a reason. There are plenty of ways to say someone is fat, but none implies evil.

 

[emsr2d2]

There are plenty of ways to say someone is fat, but none implies evil.

Unless he's fat because he's been eating babies! :lol:

 

[alpacinou]

Where I live corruption is rampant. It's on a level you just can't imagine. The corrupt figures here make your typical greedy megalomaniacs look like scrupulous businessmen.
A lot of these corrupt folks steal money and grow fatter by the day while impoverished masses barely subsist. The country's economy is like a dead antelope with hyenas and vultures fighting over the bones and scraps. There exists a tenuous coexistence between abject poverty and unfair affluence but the ever-widening abyss between the rich and the poor might swallow everyone soon.

 

[alpacinou]

Where I live corruption is rampant. It's on a level you just can't imagine. The corrupt figures here make your typical greedy megalomaniacs look like scrupulous businessmen.
A lot of these corrupt folks steal money and grow fatter by the day while impoverished masses barely subsist. The country's economy is like a dead antelope with hyenas and vultures fighting over the bones and scraps. There exists a tenuous coexistence between abject poverty and unfair affluence but the ever-widening abyss between the rich and the poor might swallow everyone soon.

Is this correct by the way?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Nothing in your writing should encourage people to hate someone just because they're fat.

Exactly. Make him do something hateful.

Being fat isn't hateful.

Here's a novel about an obese detective who's racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally odious but also a very good cop:

Fat Ollie's Book

He's not odious because he's fat. He's odious because he's odious.

(I love Ed McBain.)

 

[Tarheel]

Is this correct by the way?

It's well-written if that's what you mean.

 

[Tarheel]

Exactly. Make him do something hateful.

Being fat isn't hateful.

Here's a novel about an obese detective who's racist, sexist, homophobic, and generally odious but also a very good cop:

Fat Ollie's Book

He's not odious because he's fat. He's odious because he's odious.

(I love Ed McBain.)

Then there's the obsessive-compulsive detective who isn't fat but sure can be annoying.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Is this correct by the way?

Yes. We call them fat cats.

But you don't have to be overweight to be a fat cat. In fact, in the US, the rich are generally thinner than the poor, thanks to abundant cheap food with no nutritional value (manufactured by fat cats).

So that won't work for your purposes.