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fustian

noun
fus·​tian | \ ˈfÉ™s-chÉ™n How to pronounce fustian (audio) \

Definition of fustian

1a : a strong cotton and linen fabric
b : a class of cotton fabrics usually having a pile face and twill weave
2 : high-flown or affected writing or speech broadly : anything high-flown or affected in style
Other Words from fustian Synonyms Did You Know? Example Sentences Learn More about fustian

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Other Words from fustian

fustian adjective

Did You Know?

Fustian has been used in English for a kind of cloth since the 13th century, but it didn't acquire its high-flown sense until at least three centuries later. One of the earliest known uses of the "pretentious writing or speech" sense occurs in Christopher Marlowe's play Doctor Faustus when Wagner says, "Let thy left eye be diametarily [sic] fixed upon my right heel, with quasi vestigiis nostris insistere," and the clown replies, "God forgive me, he speaks Dutch fustian." The precise origins of the word fustian aren't clear. English picked it up from Anglo-French, which adopted it from Medieval Latin, but its roots beyond that point are a subject of some dispute.

Examples of fustian in a Sentence

a speech awash in old-fashioned fustian and bereft of all substance

First Known Use of fustian

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

History and Etymology for fustian

Middle English, from Anglo-French fustian, fustayn, from Medieval Latin fustaneum, probably from fustis tree trunk, from Latin, stick, cudgel

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More from Merriam-Webster on fustian

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Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about fustian

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