fustian

Meaning

Noun

1. (uncountable, usually) Originally, a kind of coarse fabric made from cotton and flax; now, a kind of coarse twilled cotton, or cotton and linen, stuff with a short pile and often dyed a dull colour, which is chiefly prepared for menswear.
2. (uncountable, usually) A class of fabric including corduroy and velveteen.
3. (figuratively, uncountable, usually) Inflated, pompous, or pretentious speech or writing; bombast; also (archaic), incoherent or unintelligible speech or writing; gibberish, nonsense.
4. (archaic, uncountable, usually) Chiefly in rum fustian: a hot drink made of a mixture of alcoholic beverages (as beer, gin, and sherry or white wine) with egg yolk, lemon, and spices.

Adj

1. Made out of fustian (noun sense 1).
2. Of a person, or their speech or writing: using inflated, pompous, or pretentious language; bombastic; grandiloquent; also (obsolete) using incoherent or unintelligible language.
3. (obsolete) Imaginary; invented.
4. (obsolete) Useless; worthless.

Opposite of

verbose

Synonyms

bombast

flannel

rant

blah

claptrap

grandiloquence

high-flown

inflated

magniloquence

pompous

turgidity

turgidness

windy

swan’s down

balbriggan

madrass

boastful

bombastic

dimity

flatulence

Translations

fustagno

saçma

emphase

boş

blabla

στόμφος

bla-bla

futaine

değersiz

dimi

Schwulst

μεγαληγορία

κοτλέ

leeres Geschwätz

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈfʌs.tɪ.ən/

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English: fustian

Cognate with French: futaine

Cognate with Italian: fustagno

Cognate with Occitan: fustani

Cognate with Portuguese: fustão

Cognate with Spanish: fustan

In summary

The noun is derived from Middle English fustian (“type of fabric, probably made from cotton, flax, or wool; piece of fustian spread over a bed or mattress”) [and other forms], from Old French fustaine, fustaigne (modern French futaine), from Medieval Latin fūstāneum, from (pannus) fūstāneus or (tela) fūstānea, of disputed origin.
Sense 3 (“inflated, pompous, or pretentious speech or writing”) is possibly from the fact that the fabric was sometimes used to make cushion- and pillowcases, thus suggesting that the speech or writing is “padded” or “stuffed”; compare bombast. The relationship between sense 4 (“hot drink made of a mixture of alcoholic beverages with egg yolk, lemon, and spices”) and the fabric is unclear.
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun.
Cognates
* Italian fustagno
* Occitan fustani
* Portuguese fustão
* Spanish fustan