"thickset, disproportionately stout," 1751, from chunk (n.) + -y (2). Originally U.S. colloquial. Related: Chunkiness.
Entries linking to chunky
chunk n.
"short, thick piece" of something, 1690s, probably a nasalized variant of chuck (n.1) "cut of meat;" meaning "large amount" is 1883, American English. Meaning "person or beast that is small but thick-set and strong" is from 1822.
-y 2
adjective suffix, "full of or characterized by," from Old English -ig, from Proto-Germanic *-iga- (source also of Dutch, Danish, German -ig, Gothic -egs), from PIE -(i)ko-, adjectival suffix, cognate with elements in Greek -ikos, Latin -icus (see -ic). Originally added to nouns in Old English; used from 13c. with verbs, and by 15c. even with other adjectives (for example crispy). Adjectives such as hugy, vasty are artificial words that exist for the sake of poetical metrics.