How to Say "Overweight" in Spanish

con sobrepeso

/kon sobɾepeso/from spelling rules

In Spanish, overweight is expressed as con sobrepeso. Wiktionary also lists tener sobrepeso.

Meaning: of a person, heavier than is healthy (adj)

Ways to say it

“overweight” in Spanish
Spanish	IPA	Note
con sobrepeso	/kon sobɾepeso/ (from spelling rules)
tener sobrepeso	/teneɾ sobɾepeso/ (from spelling rules)	verb

The term is used to describe a person who is heavier than is healthy. For a more severe level of being overweight, the term Obesidad (obesity) is used. If you want to describe someone specifically as chubby, you can use Rechoncho/a.

What does it mean word for word?

The noun sobrepeso is a compound of sobre, meaning over or above and peso, meaning weight.

Which one should you use?

Con sobrepeso is a more neutral, clinical term for being overweight. In contrast, obeso is a stronger, more direct medical term for being obese.

Related words

How does it change in a sentence?

While English uses 'overweight' as an adjective, Spanish typically uses the prepositional phrase con sobrepeso (with overweight) to describe a person. Additionally, to express the state of being overweight, Spanish uses the verb tener (to have) rather than ser or estar (to be).

Did you know?

In many Spanish-speaking cultures, describing someone as rechoncho is often seen as an affectionate or cute observation rather than a medical critique.
The term peso shares a distant linguistic relative with the English word 'spend', both coming from roots related to weighing or valuing things.

Examples in context

La persona tiene sobrepeso
The person is overweight
Se recomienda reducir el exceso de peso
It is recommended to reduce excess weight
Está un poco gordo/a
He/she is a bit overweight
María tiene problemas de sobrepeso y está tratando de bajar de peso.
María has weight problems and she is trying to lose weight.
¡No me digas que estoy gordo/a! Solo he ganado unos kilos.
Don't tell me I'm fat! I've just gained a few kilos.
El paciente está con sobrepeso.
The patient is overweight.
No quiero estar con sobrepeso.
I don't want to be overweight.
Ella está con sobrepeso debido a su dieta.
She is overweight because of her diet.

Example conversation

Javier and Lucía are discussing health goals at a gym.

Javier

¿Crees que estoy con sobrepeso?
Do you think I am overweight?
Lucía

No, Javier, estás muy sano.
No, Javier, you are very healthy.
Javier

Es que me siento con sobrepeso últimamente.
It's just that I feel overweight lately.
Lucía

Solo necesitas mejorar tu rutina de ejercicio.
You just need to improve your exercise routine.

Sources

Wiktionary, “overweight” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
IPA marked “from spelling rules” is derived from standard Spanish spelling, where Wiktionary gives none.
Word origins: Wiktionary entries con, sobrepeso, tener, CC BY-SA 4.0.

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How to Say “Overweight” in Spanish