fulsome

C2+ Topic:Ethics & Social Judgment

US /ˈfʊlsəm/ UK /ˈfʊlsəm/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
excessive or insincere, especially in flattery or praise

His fulsome compliments made everyone at the table uneasy.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · excessive or insincere,... excessivecloyingeffusive overdone gushing unctuous insincere extravagant

Opposites

sincere restrained modest sparing

Word family

Forms fulsomely

Derived forms fulsomelyfulsomeness

Related forms full

Etymology

From Middle English fulsom, from full + -some; originally 'abundant, plentiful', later acquiring the pejorative sense 'excessive, offensive to good taste'.

full Old English

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Ethics & Social Judgment

External links

# fulsome

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈfʊlsəm/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈfʊlsəm/

## Meanings
1. excessive or insincere, especially in flattery or praise

## Examples
- His fulsome compliments made everyone at the table uneasy.

## Synonyms
- excessive
- cloying
- effusive
- overdone
- gushing
- unctuous
- insincere
- extravagant

## Antonyms
- sincere
- restrained
- modest
- sparing

## Derived Forms
- fulsomely
- fulsomeness

## Related Forms
- full

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: full

## Etymology
From Middle English fulsom, from full + -some; originally 'abundant, plentiful', later acquiring the pejorative sense 'excessive, offensive to good taste'.

## AI Etymology
Fulsome comes from Middle English fulsom, from full + -some; originally 'abundant, plentiful', later acquiring the pejorative sense 'excessive, offensive to good taste'. The historical trail runs through Old English full. Morphologically, the surface form is analyzable into prefixes, suffixes, compounds, or participial endings that carry part of the history. The later sense follows a semantic development already present in the word's history. In modern use it means excessive or insincere, especially in flattery or praise. Derived formations include fulsomely, fulsomeness; related forms include full.

## Topics
- Ethics & Social Judgment

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