callipygian

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English

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Venus Callipyge statue

Etymology

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From Ancient Greek καλλίπυγος (kallípugos) + -ian, from κάλλος (kállos, beauty) + πυγή (pugḗ, buttocks).

Pronunciation

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  • (US) IPA(key): /ˌkæ.ləˈpɪ.d͡ʒi.ən/
  • (Canada) IPA(key): /ˌkælɪˈpɪdʒi.ən/, /ˌkæliˈpɪdʒjən/, /ˌkæləˈpɪdʒi.ən/, /ˌkæləˈpɪdʒjən/

Adjective

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callipygian (comparative more callipygian, superlative most callipygian)

  1. Having beautifully shaped buttocks.
    • 1873, anonymous author, The Romance of Lust[1], volume 1:
      [] we soon once more were in a state to renew our delicious combat; and a second course was run in the delightful callipygian recesses of Venus’s second temple of lubricity.
    • 1918, Frances Douglas, transl., Sónnica, Duffield & Company, translation of original by Vicente Blasco Ibáñez, page 131:
      Suddenly the music grew fainter, as if drawing away, and the dancers, their feet together and limbs half opened, descended in a slow spiral, with gentle undulations, until they touched the floor; the instant their callipygian charms grazed the mosaic, they recoiled like suddenly awakened serpents, []
    • 2006, Geoffrey Brock, transl., The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, translation of original by Umberto Eco, →ISBN, page 246:
      Her gown (perhaps as a result of the scorching winds coming off the ambas) clung damply to her body, clearly revealing her callipygian curves and the entire shapely length of her legs.
    • 2007, Ryan North, Dinosaur Comics, from the comic strip on May 22:
      [T-Rex:] My lovely visage, callipygian frame, startlingly awesome calves and charming smile will yet go down in history!
    • 2008 January 12, Conrad Black, “A nation seeking a hero”, in National Post, Canada:
      With trepidation, but not embarrassment, I offer the thought that Mrs. Obama, a formerly disadvantaged alumna of Princeton and Harvard, to judge from her well-strategized appearances on national television in exiguous dresses and trousers, is as callipygian as Jennifer Lopez.
  2. Specifically, describing a statue (often of a goddess such as Aphrodite) in a pose that shows off the figure's shapely buttocks.

Synonyms

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Translations

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See also

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