G. N. ShusterMaxine KuminDon OliverBruce RothwellSimon GrayThor Eckert, Jr.William CongreveGeorge VilliersLewis MumfordA. J. Liebling
Using Fulsome: Usage Guide
The senses shown above are the chief living senses of fulsome. Sense 2, which was a generalized term of disparagement in the late 17th century, is the least common of these. Fulsome became a point of dispute when sense 1, thought to be obsolete in the 19th century, began to be revived in the 20th. The dispute was exacerbated by the fact that the large dictionaries of the first half of the century missed the beginnings of the revival. Sense 1 has not only been revived but has spread in its application and continues to do so. The chief danger for the user of fulsome is ambiguity. Unless the context is made very clear, the reader or hearer cannot be sure whether such an expression as "fulsome praise" is meant in sense 1b or in sense 4.
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You Don't Need to Get Negative About Fulsome
In the 19th century, fulsome was mostly a literary term used disapprovingly to describe excessive, insincere praise and flattery. This meaning is still current, but since the early 20th century fulsome has been increasingly used with far more positive meanings, among them “abundant, copious” and “full and well developed.” The result is some amount of confusion: a phrase like “fulsome praise” used today without clarifying context may rightly be understood to mean either “abundant praise” or “excessive and obsequious praise.” While some critics object to the pleasanter meanings of fulsome, they are in fact true to the word’s origins: when it was first used in the 14th century fulsome meant “abundant, copious.”
Synonyms
Examples of fulsome in a Sentence
Byhoracio Rozanski, Fortune, 10 June 2024
Roomful of Blues with its fulsome horns is at Infinity Hall Hartford.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 3 Feb. 2024
Du Bois’s admiration for authoritarians such as Nkrumah and Mao, and his fulsome praise for the Soviet tyrant Joseph Stalin were inconsistent with his lifelong support for democracy.
—Zachariah Mampilly, Foreign Affairs, 6 Sep. 2022
Musically, the generous pit band of 17 — led by director Elaine Davidson — announced the fulsome musical pleasures to come with an inviting instrumental overture showcase.
—Christopher Smith, Orange County Register, 30 May 2024
See all Example Sentences for fulsome 
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fulsome.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Fulsome.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fulsome. Accessed 7 Jul. 2024.
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fulsome
adjective
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