fulsome
ful·some
adjective
unpleasantly and excessively suave or ingratiating in manner or speech
- “buttery praise”
- “gave him a fulsome introduction”
- “an oily sycophantic press agent”
- “oleaginous hypocrisy”
- “smarmy self-importance”
- “the unctuous Uriah Heep”
- “soapy compliments”
Origin
From Middle English fulsom, equivalent to full + -some. The meaning has evolved from an original positive connotation "abundant" to a neutral "plump" to a negative "overfed". In modern usage, it can take on any of these inflections. See usage note. The negative sense "offensive, gross; disgusting, sickening" developed secondarily after the 13th century and was influenced by Middle English foul (“foul”). In the 18th century, the word was sometimes even spelled foulsome.
Related words
Word family
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.