(Discover even more words in The Writer’s Body Lexicon.)

Abs, abdomen, stomach, waist, midsection … No matter what you call this area of the body or how you describe it, well-chosen words will strengthen its description.

Abs often occupy center stage in romance novels. They also appear in historical fiction where scantily clad gladiators compete for their lives. And let’s not forget bikini-wearing beach beauties stalked by monsters in horror stories.

It seems that abs (and not ABS as in anti-lock braking system) play an important role in many genres. This post provides a few tools to help describe them.

Emotion Beats and Physical Manifestations

Characters may show their emotional state with body language or internal sensations. Here are a few idea starters.

Clutching one’s stomach
anxiety
nausea
pain
tension

Covering midsection with a personal object like a purse
distrust
suspicion
protective instinct

Pulling in the stomach
attempting to look more appealing to a love interest

Pushing out the stomach
trying to repel an undesired admirer
conscious or unconscious reflex of a pregnant woman who wants to broadcast her good news

Shielding midsection with arms or hands
defensiveness
reaction to cold

Sinking feeling in the stomach (only noticeable to character of focus)
conflicted emotions

Stroking the stomach (male)
attention-getting gesture
attraction

Tightening of the abs (only noticeable to character of focus)
defensiveness

Upset or fluttering stomach (only noticeable to character of focus)
anxiety
confusion

Strengthen the above body language and internal sensations with dialogue or setting.

If you need additional beats, consult a body language dictionary. (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Adjectives

This section presents more than 150 adjectives that could modify abs, abdomen, stomach, waist, or whatever other word you choose to represent a character’s midsection.

Don’t constrain yourself to the list, though. Invent adjectives. For example:

brawnilicious: brawny + delicious

flubbery: flabby + blubbery

As long as context is clear, readers will understand and respond to the made-up words.

A to C
amazing, ample, angular, anorexic, baggy, bare, beautiful, beefcake, beer, beer-keg, brawny, broad, bruised, carved, cast-iron, cement, chiseled, chubby, chunky, cinched, clammy, concrete, corpulent

D to F
dainty, defined, delicate, delicious, dense, discolored, downy, droopy, elastic, emaciated, empty, exciting, exposed, firm, flabby, flaccid, flappy, flawless, fleshy, flexible, floppy, formless, full

G to M
gaunt, glossy, hairy, hanging, hard, hard-bodied, hefty, hunky, husky, impressive, indestructible, inflamed, inflexible, knotted, lean, leathery, limp, little, loose, low, magnificent, moist, muscular

N to P
naked, narrow, nervous, nipped, overhanging, painful, pathetic, paunchy, pendulous, perfect, pinched, pliable, pliant, podgy, portly, potbellied, pudgy, puffy

Q and R
qualmish, queasy, rash-ridden, raw, relaxed, resilient, ridged, rigid, ripped, rippled, rock-hard, rotund, rugged

S
sagging, saggy, scraggy, sculpted, sensitive, sexy, shaped, shapeless, shapely, shiny, short, shredded, sinewy, skinny, slack, sleek, slender, slight, slim, sloppy, smooth, soft, solid, sore, spongy, springy, sticky, stiff, strong, stuffed, sunken, sweaty, swollen

T to V
tapered, taut, tender, tense, thick, thin, tight, tiny, toned, tough, trim, tubby, unsettled, unyielding, upset, velvety

W
washboard, weak, weedy, well-defined, well-developed, willowy, wiry, withered, woozy, wrinkled

Similes and Metaphors

A few descriptors based on the animal kingdom:

A to W
ape-like, gorilla-like, pantherine, wasp-waisted

Other comparisons could incorporate:

A to X
armor, bread dough, cheese graters, concrete, granite, iron, life preservers, marble (as in sculpted from marble), nails (as in hard as nails), sausage rolls, shark bellies, steel, swimmer’s tubes, wrinkled rucksacks, xylophones

Colors

Midsections and faces often share the same color during the summer months or in tropical climates. At other times or in colder regions, a contrast between these body parts could boost narrative.

A few colors for abdomens:

A to W
anemic, black-and-blue, bronzed, brown, crimson, dusky, fair, freckled, golden, marbled, milky, pallid, purple, ruddy, sallow, snow-white, speckled, sunburnt, swarthy, taffy, tanned, waxen, white

See also 1000+ Ways to Describe Colors and 300+ Words to Describe Skin.

Shapes

A person’s midsection might be shaped liked a:

B to W
barrel, basketball, beach ball, blimp, dirigible, flour sack, gourd, keg, log, pear, pumpkin, sack of potatoes, soccer ball, water balloon, watermelon

It might also be described as:

C to T
concave, convex, flat, round, triangular

Verbs and Phrasal Verbs

A person — or the various parts of a person’s midsection — can act, react, or move in many ways, including:

A to E
ache, balloon, bend, bloat, bulge, burn, contort (into), contract, crumple, deflate, dimple, distend, engorge (with)

F to R
flatten, flex, grow, growl (with), itch, jerk, loosen, lurch, mushroom, perspire, prickle, rebound, relax, rumble

S to U
slacken, sink, smart, spasm, stiffen, sting, stretch, sweat, swell, swivel, tauten, tense, throb, tighten, tingle, tuck in, twist, twitch, undulate

Nouns

Besides the nouns you might notice during your reading adventures, try to invent some of your own. For example:

abdopudge: abdomen + pudge

baggut: baggy + gut

chubbdomen: chubby + abdomen

flabdomen: flabby + abdomen

If you’re not inclined to coin a new word, try one of the following:

B to V
beer belly, beer gut, belly, belly dough, blubber-pack, breadbasket, chick-pack, eight-pack, flab-flapper, flabs of steel, girth, gut, gut-bucket, jelly roll, middle, midriff, midsection, one-pack, paunch, pot, potbelly, pudge muscle, sex-pack, six-pack, solar plexus, spare tire, stale rolls, stomach, tum, tummy, twelve-pack, venter

Props

Props increase your creative opportunities:

A to G
acne, African waist beads, baby oil, back supports, belly buttons, belly-button jewelry, belly-dancing costumes, belts, birthmarks, body lotion, body paint, bustiers, chocolate sauce, corsets, cramps, diverticulitis, emetics, fanny packs, fitness trackers, fringed bras, girdles, gun holsters

H to W
heart-monitor bands, heat rashes, hernias, hiphugger jeans, influenza, liposuction, moles, navels, negligees, phone holsters, piercings, rashes, scars, stomach pumps, sunburn, tattoos, tummy tucks, umbilici, waist bags, waist chains, waist-trimmer belts, workout belts

Clichés and Idioms

Many people overdo stomach and similar nouns in their writing. The following clichés and idioms can be replaced with simpler words.

bellyful: heaps, loads, lots

belly-up: dead, defunct, obsolete, useless

blood and guts: brutality, carnage, savagery, violence

butterflies in the stomach: anxiety, jumpiness, nervousness, unease

dead from the waist down: asexual, frigid, passionless

empty stomach: hunger, ravenousness, starvation

fire in one’s belly: ambition, determination, drive, grit, resolve

gut feeling or instinct: intuition, precognition, presumption, suspicion

gut reaction: instinctive reaction, reflex, spontaneous response

gutless: cowardly, craven, timid, weak

gut-wrenching: distressing, harrowing, shocking, traumatic

navel-gazing: hedonistic, narcissistic, self-indulgent

proud below the navel: aroused, erect (male), excited, turned on

sick to one’s stomach: barfy, nauseated, qualmish, queasy

to air one’s paunch: heave, puke, upchuck, vomit

to belly laugh: chortle, guffaw, hoot, whoop

to belly-ache: carp, complain, gripe, protest

to bust a gut (1): labor, struggle, sweat, toil

to bust a gut (2): bellow, guffaw, hoot, roar, snort

to contemplate one’s navel: deliberate, meditate, muse, reflect

to hate someone’s guts: abhor, despise, detest, loathe

to have no stomach for: abhor, disapprove, dislike, shun

to have the guts: dare, gamble, risk, venture

to spew one’s guts out (1): barf, hurl, throw up, vomit

to spew one’s guts out (2): admit, come clean, confess, own up

to spew one’s guts out (3): announce, declare, proclaim, pronounce

to spew one’s guts out (4): betray, blab, snitch, spill, tattle

to turn one’s stomach: disgust, nauseate, repel, sicken

with a full stomach: bursting, full, sated, satisfied

with eyes bigger than one’s stomach: gluttonous, greedy, insatiable, voracious

yellow-belly: coward, deserter, traitor, weakling

yummy in the tummy: appetizing, delectable, delicious, scrumptious

You probably noticed that some idioms have more than one meaning — a good reason to avoid them.