Тучный, толстый, жирный.

[Encolpius]

Hello, what is the difference between ту́чный, то́лстый, жи́рный человек? Thanks.

 

[Maroseika]

Тучный is bookish, жирный - pejorative/colloquial. Толстый is close to neutral (and полный is more polite).

 

[Encolpius]

In adjectives like that it is important to know which is pejorative. I had the feeling жирный was pejirative, Тучный surprised me it is bookish, so that is not pejorative?

 

[Maroseika]

Тучный surprised me it is bookish, so that is not pejorative?

Well, genereally not, but if you are going to tell somebody he/she is corpulent, тучный will not be the best choice. Полный would be better (полноватый, полненькая about a woman).

 

[raf8]

There are generally only stylistic differences.
толстый is close to neutral, however it can sound a bit offensive;
тучный is neutral but rather literal, it's not so commonly used in everyday speech;
жирный sounds offensive.

 

[Vovan]

"Тучный" is typical today when speaking about one's medical condition. In this usage, it's negative in connotation. The corresponding noun is "тучность".

ТУЧНОСТЬ (obesitas) - расстройство обмена веществ, характеризующееся избыточным депонированием жира, преимущественно в подкожной клетчатке.
(Словарь медицинских терминов.)

The English counterpart is "obese".

• «Тучный» регион. Почему полнеют пензенцы

 

[Encolpius]

And if I talk about animals only то́лстый is idiomatic, right?

 

[Maroseika]

And if I talk about animals only то́лстый is idiomatic, right?

Why idiomatic? Толстая собака sounds well, although about animals people more often say жирный.
But тучный or полный about an animal sound weird. For them we do not need euphemisms.

 

[bibax]

I learnt Russian in school for many years and I always thought that the adjective is толсто́й for obvious reason (although in Czech we have tlustý, stress on the first sylable). I never noticed the difference.

In Czech the most offensive adjective is vyžraný (člověk) from the verb žráti/vyžrati (pejorative about people) = жрать, probably etymologically related to жирный.

 

[Vovan]

In Czech the most offensive adjective is vyžraný (člověk) from the verb žráti/vyžrati (pejorative about people) = жрать, probably etymologically related to жирный.

In Russian you can say "ото́жранный". Very, very rude (when about people; okay when about animals).