effusive

English

WOTD – 17 October 2011

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin effūsīvus, 1660s.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɪˈfjuːsɪv/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Adjective

effusive (comparative more effusive, superlative most effusive)

1. Gushy; unrestrained, extravagant or excessive (in emotional expression).

   Synonym: gushy

   Coordinate term: fulsome

   effusive praise

   • 1997, David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book Group:

     All week I’ve found myself doing everything I can to distance myself in the crew’s eyes from the bovine herd I’m part of, to somehow unimplicate myself: I eschew cameras and sunglasses and pastel Caribbeanwear; I make a big deal of carrying my own cafeteria tray and am effusive in my thanks for the slightest service.

   • 2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 47:

     While he is reasonably effusive about inter-city travel, he is heavily disparaging of all types of stopping service, including those on otherwise busy main lines. His analysis is not entirely unsound, and he tackles some of the questions head on.

   • 2026 April 5, Howard LaFranchi, “Trump’s war in Iran puts new strain on alliances. Why this time it’s different.”, in The Christian Science Monitor‎^[1], Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 April 2026:

     [US president Donald] Trump has developed a warm relationship with [NATO Secretary-General Mark] Rutte, who courted the president at last June’s NATO summit with effusive flattery and commitments to boosting European members’ “fair share” of alliance spending.

2. (archaic) Pouring, spilling out freely; overflowing.
   • 1726, Homer, “Book XXII”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume V, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC:

     wash'd with the effusive wave

3. (geology, of igneous rock) Extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava.

Derived terms

• effusively
• effusiveness
• effusivity
• overeffusive
• uneffusive

Related terms

• effusion

Translations

extravagant or excessive

• Bulgarian: експанзивен (bg) (ekspanziven), несдържан (bg) (nesdăržan)
• Catalan: efusiu, emotiu
• Danish: overvældende
• Dutch: buitenissig (nl), excessief (nl)
• Finnish: ylenpalttinen (fi), ylenmääräinen (fi), ylitsevuotava
• French: expansif (fr), généreux (fr), émotif (fr)
• German: überschwänglich (de)
• Greek: διαχυτικός (el) (diachytikós)
• Māori: pātere
• Portuguese: efusivo (pt)
• Russian: экспанси́вный (ru) (ekspansívnyj), бу́рный (ru) (búrnyj), необу́зданный (ru) (neobúzdannyj), несде́ржанный (ru) (nesdéržannyj), неуме́ренный (ru) (neumérennyj), я́рко вы́раженный (ru) (járko výražennyj)
• Spanish: comunicativo (es), expansivo (es), efusivo (es), emotivo (es)
• Swedish: översvallande (sv)
• Turkish: coşkulu (tr), coşkun (tr), taşkın (tr)

pouring, spilling out freely; overflowing

• Bulgarian: преливащ (bg) (prelivašt)
• Catalan: efusiu
• French: effusif (fr) m
• Māori: pātere
• Russian: переполня́ющий (ru) (perepolnjájuščij), лью́щийся че́рез край (lʹjúščijsja čérez kraj)
• Spanish: rebosante (es)

extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava

• Finnish: ekstrusiivinen (fi)
• French: effusif (fr) m
• German: vulkanisch (de), Extrusiv-, Erguss- (de), Ausbruchs- (de), Effusiv-
• Romanian: efuziv (ro)
• Russian: эффузивный (ru) (effuzivnyj), вулканический (ru) (vulkaničeskij), излившийся из вулкана (izlivšijsja iz vulkana)
• Spanish: extrusivo

Italian

Adjective

effusive

1. feminine plural of effusivo