What does "roly-poly" mean?
A toy that rights itself when pushed over.
Roly-poly
/ˌɹəʊlɪˈpəʊli/ adj, adv, noun, slang
adj, adv, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A toy that rights itself when pushed over.
- Grammar: roly-poly is listed as adj, adv, noun, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: adipose, beefy, blimp, bloated.
- Usage evidence: Santa Claus is usually drawn as roly-poly. He is almost never skinny.
How to use "roly-poly"
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- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "roly-poly" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
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- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "roly-poly" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
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Compare nearby meanings
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "roly-poly" is acting as adj, adv, noun, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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Final meaning check
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Definitions
Noun
- 1 A toy that rights itself when pushed over. countable, uncountable
"BOBO The Roly Poly Clown / Punch him—beat him—tackle him—Bobo will bounce right back with a smile!"
- 2 pudding made of suet pastry spread with jam or fruit and rolled up and baked or steamed wordnet
- 3 A short, plump person (especially a child). countable, informal, uncountable
"The Germans have a great idea that you must "stärken (strengthen)" yourself. So they eat every few hours. […] The German women are plump roly-polies, as a general rule, and it is probably in consequence of this continual "strengthening.""
- 4 a rotund individual wordnet
- 5 A forward roll or sideways roll. countable, uncountable
"When you are finished with circle time, dismiss your children by helping each one do a roly-poly roll (a somersault) and roll away to their next activity."
Show 8 more definitions
- 6 Synonym of tumbleweed (“any plant which habitually breaks away from its roots once dry, forming a light, rolling mass which is driven by the wind from place to place”); specifically, the prickly Russian thistle (Kali tragus or Salsola tragus). Australia, countable, uncountable
- 7 A baked or steamed pudding made from suet pastry which is spread with fruit or jam (or occasionally other fillings) and then rolled up. British, also, attributive, countable, uncountable
"[page 135] "Fanny has made the roly-poly pudding," says he; "the chops are my part. Here's a fine one; try this, Goldmore." […] [page 137] The three mutton-chops consumed by him were best of the mutton kind; the potatoes were perfect of their order; as for the roly-poly, it was too good."
- 8 In full roly-poly bug: a small terrestrial invertebrate which tends to roll into a ball when disturbed, such as a woodlouse (suborder Oniscidea, especially a pill bug (family Armadillidiidae) or a sowbug (family Porcellionidae)) or a pill millipede (superorder Oniscomorpha). Canada, US, countable, uncountable
"A roly-poly had found his way inside the house; I reasoned that the tiny varmint had crawled up the steps. […] The creatures are no more than an inch long, and when you touch them they roll themselves into a tight gray ball."
- 9 A mischievous or worthless person; a scoundrel, a rascal. countable, obsolete, uncountable
"Ile haue thee in league vvith theſe tvvo rovvly povvlies: they ſhal be thy Damons and thou their Pithy-aſſe; […]"
- 10 An activity or game involving rolling. historical, uncountable
"If this be your Play (quoth John) that vve may not be like a Quaker's dumb Meeting, let us begin ſome Diverſion; vvhat d'ye think of Rouly-Pouly, or a Country-Dance?"
- 11 An activity or game involving rolling.; A game involving people (usually children) rolling down a slope. countable, historical, uncountable
"Often I did view the shade / Where once a nest my eyes did fill, / And often mark'd the place I play'd / At "roly poly" down the hill."
- 12 An activity or game involving rolling.; A game in which balls are rolled along the floor to knock down pins, or bowled into holes, or thrown into hats placed on the ground. countable, historical, uncountable
"This is one of the games prohibited by Edward IV.; and received its denomination from being played with one half of a sphere of wood. Half-bowl is practised to this day in Hertfordshire, where it is commonly called rolly-polly; and it is best performed upon the floor of a room, especially if it be smooth and level. There are fifteen small pins of a conical form required for this pastime; […] the bowl, when delivered, must pass above the pins, and round the end-pin, without the circle, before it beats any of them down; if not, the cast is forfeited: […]"
- 13 An activity or game involving rolling.; Synonym of roulette (“a game of chance in which a small ball is made to move round rapidly on a circle divided off into numbered red and black spaces, the one on which it stops indicating the result of a variety of wagers permitted by the game”). countable, historical, uncountable
"And be it further enacted by the Authority aforeſaid, That if any Perſon or Perſons whatſoever ſhall, after the ſaid Twenty fourth Day of June, One thouſand ſeven hundred and forty five, play at the ſaid Game of Roulet, otherwiſe Roly-poly, or at any Game of Chance with Cards or Dice, already prohibited by Law, every ſuch Perſon or Perſons ſo offending, ſhall alſo incur the Pains and Penalties, and be liable to ſuch Proſecution, as is directed in and by an Act made in the Twelfth Year of the Reign of His preſent Majeſty, intituled, An Act for the more effectual preventing exceſſive and deceitful Gaming."
Adjective
- 1 Moving with a rolling and swaying motion.
""Oh! Mother, Mother, there has been an old man rat in the dairy—a dreadful 'normous big rat, mother; and he's stolen a pat of butter and the rolling-pin." […] "A rolling-pin?" said Ribby. "Did we not hear a roly-poly noise in the attic when we were looking into that chest?" Ribby and Tabitha rushed upstairs again. Sure enough the roly-poly noise was still going on quite distinctly under the attic floor."
- 2 Short and plump; squat. childish, humorous, informal, often
"She had been waiting for the little roly-poly man to tumble and roll along the deck, and had been mentally indulging her sense of humour on the scene."
Adjective
- 1 short and plump wordnet
Adverb
- 1 By rolling, so as to roll.
"Tom Kitten bit and spat, and mewed and wriggled; and the rolling-pin went roly-poly, roly; roly, poly, roly."
- 2 Without hesitating; directly; hence, in a thoughtless manner; indiscriminately. obsolete
"At your pleaſure thats rare; then rovvlie, povvlie, our vviues ſhall lye at your commaund: […]"
Example
"Santa Claus is usually drawn as roly-poly. He is almost never skinny."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "roly-poly"?
Common synonyms include: adipose, beefy, blimp, bloated, blowzy, bosomy.
How do you use "roly-poly" in a sentence?
Santa Claus is usually drawn as roly-poly. He is almost never skinny.
How do you pronounce "roly-poly"?
Pronounced /ˌɹəʊlɪˈpəʊli/.
Etymology
The noun is apparently derived from roll (“to turn over and over”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. Compare rolly (“having the ability to roll, rolling”, adjective), which is attested since the 19th century. Noun sense 1.7 (“mischievous or worthless person”) is possibly influenced by poll (“head; (archaic) scalp; (by extension) person”). The adjective and adverb are attested later than the noun, and so are probably derived from it.