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During the 18th century the word plum became a delectable ingredient in the English language. The word for the sweet, juicy fruit denoted such things as a fortune of 100,000 pounds, a rich person, and, by the early 19th century, anything desirable. "Plummy" blossomed in the mid-18th century with the meaning "full of plums" and had branched out as an adjective for desirable things by the century's end. By the late 19th century it was being used to describe rich, mellow voices. The sweetness of the word did eventually sour, however, when people began to use it to describe stilted or affected speech, as in "the teacher used a plummy voice when he talked to the students' parents."

Examples of plummy in a Sentence

the wine's ripe, plummy flavors

Recent Examples on the Web Now overhauled in a far more refined style, this Portuguese rosé made from a blend mostly from Baga and Shiraz grapes along with others has a plummy richness with a dry, slightly tropical finish. — Amanda Schuster, Forbes, 20 May 2021 The last of the trio of lipsticks is the plummy Stacey. — Gabi Thorne, Allure, 22 Jan. 2021 The series, which takes place in early 1800s London, is narrated by an unseen insider (Julie Andrews provides the deliciously plummy voiceover), whose gossipy reports about high-society scandals the characters read with rapt attention. — oregonlive, 22 Dec. 2020 His plummy voice and expertise on wildlife give him away. — Washington Post, 11 Dec. 2020 The Zuccardi was dark and plummy, with an aromatic note of leafiness. — Eric Asimov, New York Times, 7 Nov. 2019 All in all, the film looks like a lot of fun, with plummy British accents to boot. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 20 Dec. 2018 The shade Sheets appears to be a matte beige; Beyond is a light, brown-leaning peach; Night Fever looks like a shimmering version of Beyond; Addict is a shimmery fuchsia; Glare is a metallic, golden brown; and Whiplash is a rich, plummy brown. — Marci Robin, Allure, 18 July 2018 Schiff’s sense of voicing (creating a hierarchy from among simultaneous multiple musical lines) dovetailed in a gorgeously complex way with the Bösendorfer’s colors – plummy French horns in the middle register, muted trumpets above, tuba below. — Peter Dobrin, Philly.com, 1 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'plummy.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.