Today's Word

Fulsome

FUL-sum

Definition

(adjective) Excessive to the point of being insincere; overly flattering or abundant in a way that feels uncomfortable.

Example

Her fulsome compliments were so over the top that everyone in the room sensed she didn’t mean a word of them.

Word Origin

Fulsome comes from Middle English, where full meant “abundant.” Originally positive, the term gradually shifted to imply overabundance, and by the 17th century it took on its modern meaning: so much of something that it becomes unpleasant or false.

Fun Fact

In medieval courts, flattery wasn’t just social— it was strategic. Nobles often exaggerated praise to absurd levels to gain favor, protection, or political advantage. Historians note that entire diplomatic negotiations were built on excessive, theatrical compliments, so inflated that they read today like satire. This cultural tradition helped shape our modern idea of “fulsome praise” as something that feels flattering on the surface…but carries an uncomfortable edge underneath.

Previous Words

Proscribe

Today's Word

Proscribe

proh-SKRYBE

Definition

(verb) To officially forbid something, especially by law or authority; to condemn or prohibit as harmful or unacceptable.

Example

The new administration moved quickly to proscribe several previously tolerated practices, leaving industries scrambling to interpret exactly what compliance now required.

Word Origin

Proscribe derives from the Latin proscribere, meaning “to publish in writing” — from pro- (“before” or “publicly”) and scribere (“to write”). In ancient Rome, proscription was a formal public notice posted in the forum listing the names of enemies of the state — men whose property was forfeit and whose killers would be rewarded. To be proscribed was to be publicly condemned and stripped of all legal protection. The word’s journey from “publicly written” to “officially forbidden” traces directly through this brutal Roman practice.

Fun Fact

Rome’s most notorious proscriptions were ordered by Sulla in 82 BCE and later by the Second Triumvirate — Octavian, Mark Antony, and Lepidus — in 43 BCE. The Triumvirate’s lists ultimately condemned roughly 300 senators and 2,000 knights, including Cicero, whose head and hands were displayed on the Rostra in the Roman Forum — the same platform from which he had delivered his most celebrated speeches. The proscription lists were essentially state-sanctioned assassination rosters, making proscribe one of the few words whose etymology doubles as one of history’s darkest administrative procedures.

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Fulsome

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Previous Words

Proscribe

Proscribe

Definition

Example

Word Origin

Proscribe

Apocryphal

Redoubtable

Disrepute

Vacuous