In Defense of a Poor, Helpless Vocabulary Word

[gnomi]

I am here to speak out in protection of the word "fulsome."

The American Heritage Dictionary (4th edition, 2001) defines fulsome as:

adj.Offensively flattering or insincere. See Syns. at unctuous. [ME fulsom, abundant, disgusting]

However, I keep seeing it used as a synonym for "abundant," presumably based on false association with "full." And it is time to stand up for fulsome in its original meaning. Thus, no more fulsome praise...unless you really mean that the praise is offensive or insincere.

I, and my fellow vocabulary pedants, thank you.

Comments

[ianrandalstrock.livejournal.com]

I'm in. No more misuse of fulsome... other than to heap fulsome praise on those who it to mean a lot.

And may I put forward my ongoing search for a new, good word? Decimate means to reduce by one-tenth, but it is so often used to mean "nearly totally destroy" that it is weakening. I've been searching long (but not too hard) for a word that means "to reduce by ninety percent", almost the inverse of decimate, but haven't yet found one I like.

[merlinpole.livejournal.com]

"virtually annihilate" perhaps, or "nearly annihilated."

[ianrandalstrock.livejournal.com]

Yeah, but that doesn't have the pizzazz of a single word, le mot juste. It feels like a fix-up.