fulsome

Meanings

1. Offensive to good taste, tactless, overzealous, excessive.
2. Excessively flattering (connoting insincerity).
3. Characterised or marked by fullness; abundant, copious.
4. Fully developed; mature.

Etymology

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.