Etymologically
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bulky

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Pronunciation

Etymology

It is formed from English bulk + -y.[2][3][4][5][6] The MED records bulki, also boulky, from about 1450.[7] The noun bulk first meant a heap or a ship's cargo, and probably comes from a Scandinavian source akin to Old Norse búlki (“heap, ship's cargo”);[2][3][8] the OED calls its etymology complicated, since the sense "body, trunk" arose from confusion with the obsolete bouk, belly.[3][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Plump, stout: about 1450, in a poem that praises shoulders that are "noghte boulky".[7] Etymonline likewise dates the sense "plump, stout, of great size" to the mid-15th century,[2] while the OED's record begins only in 1672.[3]

Semantic evolution

The OED's first quotation, from Marvell's Rehearsal Transpros'd (1672), may mean "pompous, self-important", a sense that did not last; in 1674 it meant simply "occupying space".[3] The main sense, large and taking up much space, especially too much, is recorded from 1687,[3] often with a suggestion of something unwieldy or clumsy.[2] Johnson (1755) defined it as "of great size or stature", quoting Dryden.[6] In 19th-century criminal slang a bulky was a policeman (from 1821 in Green's dictionary, 1828 in the OED),[9][3] perhaps from the adjective, in allusion to a policeman's size or to the "pompous" sense, while Partridge suggested an alteration of balky;[3][9] the English Dialect Dictionary records it in Scotland and Ireland,[10] later also for a prison guard in the United States and a member of the Royal Ulster Constabulary.[9]

Timeline

  • c. 1450 – plump, stout.[7][2]
  • 1672 – perhaps pompous, self-important (obsolete).[3]
  • 1674 – occupying space (obsolete).[3]
  • 1687 – large, voluminous, taking up much space.[3]
  • 1821 – noun, slang, a policeman.[9] The OED's first record is from 1828.[3]

Meanings

Adjective

  1. Large and taking up a lot of space, especially so as to be awkward to carry or handle; unwieldy: He dragged a bulky suitcase up the stairs.[11][12][3]
  2. Of a person, large and heavily built; stout.[12][7]
  3. Having great volume in proportion to its weight.[12]

Noun

  1. (slang) A police officer; also, a prison guard.[9][3][10]

Word family

  • bulkily
  • bulkiness
  • overbulky
  • unbulky

References

  1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ^ Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
  5. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
  6. ^ a b Johnson, Samuel (1755), A Dictionary of the English Language, London; 4th ed. 1773; Johnson's Dictionary Online, ed. Beth Rapp Young et al.
  7. ^ a b c d Kurath, Hans; Kuhn, Sherman M.; Lewis, Robert E., eds. (1952–2001), Middle English Dictionary, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press; online edition ed. Frances McSparran et al. (2000–2018)
  8. ^ Ayto, John (2005), Word Origins: The Secret Histories of English Words from A to Z, 2nd ed., London: A & C Black
  9. ^ a b c d e Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
  10. ^ a b Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
  11. ^ Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
  12. ^ a b c Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster