What does pulpy mean?
Pulpy means soft, juicy, or pulp-like. The word is most commonly used for fruit, vegetables, and other foods whose flesh can be easily pressed or cut, as in a description of ripe peaches or soft tomatoes. It can also describe something yielding or lacking firmness, especially when that softness is excessive or undesirable. Although pulpy is not restricted to food, it often evokes a moist, fleshy texture. The word is related to pulp, the soft material inside fruit or from which fruit juice is extracted, and it is sometimes used to suggest that a fruit has become especially tender through ripening or decay. In literary contexts, pulpy can more broadly evoke anything soft, swollen, or yielding.
adjectiveSoft, juicy, and resembling pulp; soft or yielding rather than firm.
- Soft, juicy, and resembling pulp.
- Soft, yielding, and lacking firmness.
"The ripe fruit had a sweet, pulpy texture."
"He cut the pulpy tomato into thick slices."
"The fruit had become soft and pulpy after sitting in the heat."
Something pulpy has the soft, yielding texture associated with the inside of a fruit or vegetable.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does pulpy come from?
Pulpy derives from pulp, which comes through French from Latin pulpa, meaning “flesh” or “the soft part of the body.” The adjective developed in the early 17th century to describe something having the soft, fleshy consistency of pulp. Related English forms include pulpous and the dental term pulpal.
Related word forms
How pulpy is actually used
Usually describes food, fruit, vegetables, or organic tissue. It can also suggest excessive softness or loss of firmness, sometimes with an unpleasant implication.