Search results
The result is that fulsome is now used with positive or neutral connotations at least as often as with negative connotations, but many people consider the “copious” meaning to be an error, even though it is the etymologically purest use of the word.
Via the sense of "causing nausea" it came to be used of language, "offensive to taste or good manners" (early 15c.); especially "excessively flattering" (1660s). Since the 1960s, however, it commonly has been used in its original, favorable sense, especially in fulsome praise .
The earliest known use of the word fulsome is in the Middle English period (1150—1500). OED's earliest evidence for fulsome is from before 1325, in Genesis & Exodus.
Historically, it has also meant "disgusting or offensive," or "copious or abundant." Fulsome dates to the 1200s, when its components (ful + som) gave it the meaning "abundant, full," says the Online Etymology Dictionary. By the mid-1300s, it had come to mean "plump, well-fed."
Jul 3, 2024 · The negative sense "offensive, gross; disgusting, sickening" developed secondarily after the 13th century and was influenced by Middle English foul (“ foul ”). [1] In the 18th century, the word was sometimes even spelled foulsome. [2]
Nov 3, 2014 · Over the centuries, it came to mean overdone, cloying, gross, nauseating, disgusting, loathsome, foul, and so on. In the 18th century, in fact, it was sometimes spelled “foulsome.” Nearly all of those negative senses, the OED says, are now considered obsolete.
1. excessive or insincere, esp in an offensive or distasteful way. fulsome compliments. 2. not standard. extremely complimentary. 3. informal. full, rich, or abundant. a fulsome figure. a fulsome flavour.
People also ask
Is fulsome a negative etymology?
Where did the word fulsome come from?
Is “fulsome” an informal word?
Is fulsome a negative connotation?
Why is fulsome a Troublesome Word?
Is “foulsome” a bad word?
