fulsome

English

Etymology

From Middle English fulsum, equivalent to ful- +‎ -some. The meaning has evolved from an original positive connotation "abundant" to a neutral "plump" to a negative "overfed". In modern usage, it can take on any of these inflections. See usage note.

The negative sense "offensive, gross; disgusting, sickening" developed secondarily after the 13th century and was influenced by Middle English foul (“foul”). In the 18th century, the word was sometimes even spelled foulsome.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfʊlsəm/

Adjective

fulsome (comparative fulsomer, superlative fulsomest)

1. Offensive to good taste, tactless, overzealous, excessive.
   • 1820 March, [Walter Scott], chapter X, in The Monastery. A Romance. […], volume III, Edinburgh: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and for Archibald Constable and Co., and John Ballantyne, […], →OCLC:

     You will hear the advanced enfans perdus, as the French call them, and so they are indeed, namely, children of the fall, singing unclean and fulsome ballads of sin and harlotrie.

2. Excessively flattering (connoting insincerity).
   • 1889, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], “The Yankee and the King Sold as Slaves”, in A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, New York, N.Y.: Charles L. Webster & Company, →OCLC, page 448:

     And by hideous contrast, a redundant orator was making a speech to another gathering not thirty steps away, in fulsome laudation of "our glorious British liberties!"

   • 1922 February, James Joyce, “[Episode 15: Circe]”, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, […], →OCLC, part II [Odyssey], pages 441–442:

     He addressed me in several handwritings with fulsome compliments as a Venus in furs [...]

   • 2018 January 28, Dafydd Pritchard, “Cardiff City 1 – 1 Manchester City”, in BBC Sport‎^[1]:

     City overcame a spirited effort from Cardiff's Championship rivals Bristol City in a keenly contested Carabao Cup semi-final on Tuesday night, with manager Pep Guardiola fulsome in his praise for Lee Johnson's men over two legs.

3. Marked by fullness; abundant, copious.

   The fulsome thanks of the war-torn nation lifted our weary spirits.

4. Fully developed; mature.

   Her fulsome timbre resonated throughout the hall.

Usage notes

• Common usage tends toward the negative connotation, and using fulsome in the sense of abundant, copious, or mature may lead to confusion without contextual prompts.

Synonyms

• (offensive): gross
• (abundant, copious): profuse
• (excessively flattering): effusive, unctuous

Derived terms

• fulsomely
• fulsomeness

Translations

offensive to good taste, tactless, overzealous, excessive

• German: taktlos (de), geschmacklos (de), übereifrig, übertrieben (de), widerlich (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

excessively flattering (connoting insincerity)

• German: schmeichlerisch, überschwänglich (de), anbiedernd (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

abundant, copious

• German: reichhaltig (de), ausgiebig (de), reichlich (de), weitschweifig (de), üppig (de), überreichlich (de), uneingeschränkt (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}

fully developed, mature

• German: reif (de), vollentwickelt, gereift (de), entwickelt (de)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}