What does "cellulite" mean?

Skin dimpling caused by the herniation (protrusion) of subcutaneous adipose tissue (fat within connective tissue), especially on the pelvic area of women.

How do you pronounce "cellulite"?

Pronounced //ˈsɛl.jʊ.laɪt//.

Cellulite

Q: What is a synonym for "cellulite"?

Common synonyms include: ;, adiposis edematosa, dermopanniculosis deformans, gynoid lipodystrophy, orange peel syndrome, status protrusus cutis.

//ˈsɛl.jʊ.laɪt// noun, slang

noun, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1
Skin dimpling caused by the herniation (protrusion) of subcutaneous adipose tissue (fat within connective tissue), especially on the pelvic area of women. countable, informal, uncountable
2
lumpy deposits of body fat especially on women's thighs etc. wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

;adiposis edematosa dermopanniculosis deformans gynoid lipodystrophy orange peel syndrome status protrusus cutis

Example

More examples

"You're too young to worry about cellulite."

Etymology

Borrowed from French cellulite. By surface analysis, cellule + -ite. Doublet of cellulitis. First attested in the 1960s.

Related phrases

adipose tissue

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.