25 May 2017

fulsome

[foo l-suh m, fuhl-]

adjective

1. offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive; overdone or gross:
fulsome praise that embarrassed her deeply; fulsome décor.
2. disgusting; sickening; repulsive:
a table heaped with fulsome mounds of greasy foods.
3. excessively or insincerely lavish:
fulsome admiration.
4. encompassing all aspects; comprehensive:
a fulsome survey of the political situation in Central America.
5. abundant or copious.

Origin of fulsome

Middle English

1200-1250, First recorded in 1200-50, fulsome is from the Middle English word fulsom. See full1, -some1

Related forms

fulsomely, adverb
fulsomeness, noun
unfulsome, adjective

Can be confused

full, fullness, fulsome.
fulsome, noisome (see usage note at the current entry)

Usage note

In the 13th century when it was first used, fulsome meant simply “abundant or copious.” It later developed additional senses of “offensive, gross” and “disgusting, sickening,” probably by association with foul, and still later a sense of excessiveness: a fulsome disease; a fulsome meal, replete with too much of everything.For some centuries fulsome was used exclusively, or nearly so, with these unfavorable meanings.
Today, both fulsome and fulsomely are also used in senses closer to the original one: The sparse language of the new Prayer Book contrasts with the fulsome language of Cranmer’s Book of Common Prayer. Later they discussed the topic more fulsomely.These uses are often criticized on the grounds that fulsome must always retain its connotations of “excessive” or “offensive.” The common phrase fulsome praise is thus sometimes ambiguous in modern use.

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Today’s quote

The major difference between a thing that might go wrong and a thing that cannot possibly go wrong is that when a thing that cannot possibly go wrong goes wrong it usually turns out to be impossible to get at and repair.

– Douglas Adams

On this day

25 May – Towel Day. A tribute to Douglas Adams, author of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, which states that a towel is ‘about the most massively useful thing that an interstellar hitchhiker can have‘. First held in 2001, two weeks after the death of Adams. Fans carry a towel with them on this day in appreciation of Adams and his work.

25 May 1999 – Bill Morgan, who had been resuscitated after spending 14 minutes clinically dead following a heart-attack, wins a $27,000 car from a Tatts Scratch lotto ticket. During a reenactment of the event for a Melbourne TV station, Bill won $250,000 from a Scratch-It ticket. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBYuxQBSc0o