Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun A coarse sturdy cloth made of cotton and linen or flax.
- noun Any of several thick twilled cotton fabrics, such as corduroy, having a short nap.
- noun Pretentious speech or writing; pompous language.
- adjective Made of or as if of fustian.
- adjective Pompous, bombastic, and ranting.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Formerly, a stout cloth, supposed to have been of cotton or cotton and flax.
- noun In present use, a stout twilled cotton fabric, especially that which has a short nap, variously called corduroy, moleskin, beaverteen, velveteen, thickset, etc., according to the way in which it is finished. See
pillow . - noun An inflated or turgid style of speaking or writing, characterized by the use of high-sounding phrases and exaggerated metaphors, and running into hyperbole and rant; empty phrasing.
- noun A potation composed of the yolks of eggs, white wine or other liquor, lemon, and spices.
- noun Synonyms Turgidness, Rant, etc. See
bombast . - Made of fustian.
- Pompous in style; ridiculously tumid; bombastic.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun A kind of coarse twilled cotton or cotton and linen stuff, including corduroy, velveteen, etc.
- noun An inflated style of writing; a kind of writing in which high-sounding words are used, above the dignity of the thoughts or subject; bombast.
- adjective Made of fustian.
- adjective Pompous; ridiculously tumid; inflated; bombastic.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun A kind of coarse twilled cotton or cotton and linen stuff
- noun A class of cloth including corduroy and velveteen
- noun Pompous, inflated or pretentious writing or speech
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a strong cotton and linen fabric with a slight nap
- noun pompous or pretentious talk or writing
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Others who have a great deal of fire, but have not excellent organs, feel the fore-mentioned motions, without the extraordinary hints; and these we call fustian writers. '
The Lives of the Poets of Great Britain and Ireland Cibber, Theophilus, 1703-1758 1753
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Quarry Bank had also begun weaving, and like many of the mills near here produced a fabric called fustian, also known as
Travel news, travel guides and reviews | guardian.co.uk 2009
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I am much deceived if this be not abominable fustian, that is, thoughts and words ill-sorted, and without the least relation to each other; yet I dare not answer for an audience, that they would not clap it on the stage: so little value there is to be given to the common cry, that nothing but madness can please madmen, and the poet must be of a piece with the spectators, to gain a reputation with them.
The works of John Dryden, $c now first collected in eighteen volumes. $p Volume 06 John Dryden 1665
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Why should he deny himself his velvet? it is but a kind of fustian which costs him eighteenpence a yard.
The Newcomes 2006
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The former of these two offences differs from the latter by the difference between "fustian" and "gush."
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And the impertinent patronage of worshippers in "fustian" is at least as offensive as the older-fashioned vulgarity of pride in congregations who "come in their own carriages."
Jan of the Windmill Juliana Horatia Gatty Ewing 1863
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Why should he deny himself his velvet? it is but a kind of fustian which costs him eighteenpence a yard.
The Newcomes William Makepeace Thackeray 1837
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The second rate fustian squeezes out what is interesting in Saxons, Vikings, and Celts, namely, the evidence concerning the ancestry of the English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish people.
Britain 2010
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This unidentified artist specialized in depictions of Italian peasants wearing jackets, aprons and dresses made from what was then called "genes," fustian cotton named after its assumed city of origin in Genoa, Italy.
Forever in Blue Jeans Alexa Brazilian 2011
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Traditional dress, however we define it, is currently pretty rare, though film-makers, no doubt because of the continuing popularity of Roman epics, reached for their togas when Charlton Heston appeared in fustian versions of Julius Caesar and Antony and Cleopatra.
Coriolanus – review 2012
sera commented on the word fustian
"Pompous or pretentious talk or writing"
August 13, 2007
zentennum commented on the word fustian
n. stout fabric; adj. pompous, worthless
August 23, 2009
jaime_d commented on the word fustian
"a farrago without fustian" Gilbert Adair translation of Georges Perec's La Disparition
August 11, 2010
Louises commented on the word fustian
He was encased in black fustian which made his legs and arms look likemdrain pipes. Cold Comfort Farm.
February 21, 2013
bilby commented on the word fustian
Likemdrain. Me likemdrain good-good, wordwallah.
February 21, 2013