Sunday Word: Zaftig
zaftig [zahf-tig, -tik]
adjective:
(informal North American) having a full rounded figure : pleasingly plump
Examples:
The postmistress was a large, zaftig woman with long, grayish blond hair and a floating, floral style of dress. (Dana Stabenow, Bad Blood)
Blonde, zaftig, and abrasive, always a great quote, she was a magnet for the media, a star in her own right, as famous as some of her clients, which eventually became a problem. (Peter Biskind, When Sue Was Queen, Vanity Fair, April 2000)
Another memorable quote from my mother, this one about zaftig women: “Some men like to get lost in the folds.” (Peter Biskind, Manage Your Dating Attitude Before It Manages You, Psyc Central, July 18)
Origin:
alluringly plump, curvaceous, buxom, 1937, from Yiddish zaftik, literally 'juicy', from zaft 'juice', from Middle High German saft 'juice' (Online Etymology Dictionary)
Over the centuries, some women have been approvingly described as full-figured, shapely, womanly, curvy, curvaceous, voluptuous, and statuesque. Such women are, in a word, zaftig. Zaftig has been juicing up our language since the 1930s (the same decade that gave us Yiddish-derived futz, hoo-ha, and schmaltz, not to mention lox). It comes from the Yiddish zaftik, which means 'juicy' or 'succulent' and which in turn derives from zaft, meaning 'juice'or 'sap'. (Mirriam-Webster)