Describing someone who is slightly overweight: “He is slightly on the _____ side”

Question

He is slightly on the _______ side.

If I want to say that he is slightly overweight, what would be the most common word to insert here?

Thank you.

Answer 1

The word I would use here is heavy. There are other words that would fit, but heavy is the least offensive and therefore probably more common. See Farlex’s definition of “be (a bit) on the heavy side” (via TFD):

To be somewhat heavy. This intentionally vague phrase highlights the speaker's awareness of or hesitation about the weight of something or someone.
Emma used to be a bit on the heavy side, but she's lost a lot of weight since she started going to the gym regularly.

Answer 2

Words you can use:

• Overweight
• Under-tall
• Too short for their weight
• Thick
• Fluffy
• Pudgy
• Out of shape
• Skinny-challenged
• Big-boned
• The list goes on