Should I just give up, or should I continue to cringe when I hear people using the word “fulsome” when they mean “full” or “large”? Because it grates on my ears. And yes, before I looked up this source, I hadn’t realized that the modern usage of just meaning “full” but with more syllables is actually the original meaning from the 1200s.
Dictionary.com offers the following on the word fulsome:
adjective
- offensive to good taste, especially as being excessive; overdone or gross.
Example: fulsome praise that embarrassed her deeply; fulsome décor. - disgusting; sickening; repulsive.
Example: a table heaped with fulsome mounds of greasy foods. - excessively or insincerely lavish.
Example: fulsome admiration. - encompassing all aspects; comprehensive.
Example: a fulsome survey of the political situation in Central America. - abundant or copious.
adjective
- excessive or insincere, esp in an offensive or distasteful way
Example: fulsome compliments - [not standard] extremely complimentary
- [informal] full, rich or abundant
Examples: a fulsome figure
a fulsome flavour
fulsome detail - [archaic] disgusting; loathsome
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.
Ian Randal Strock 