as in rhetorical
marked by the use of impressive-sounding but mostly meaningless words and phrases
one of those fustian odes to patriotic duty that were so beloved by school teachers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in rhetoric
language that is impressive-sounding but not meaningful or sincere
a speech awash in old-fashioned fustian and bereft of all substance
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Recent Examples of fustian
Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 6 June 2023
Noun
Freed of the architectural fustian of the Frick’s Gilded Age home, the art breathes anew, each painting in its own world rather than entwined with others as part of a decorative ensemble.
—Philip Kennicott, Washington Post, 6 June 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for fustian
Adjective
-
The unraveling of the once-cozy relationship is not just personal or rhetorical.—
Julia Khrebtan-Hörhager,
The Conversation,
24 Apr. 2026
-
For Republican Presidents, this has mostly been rhetoric.—
Zach Helfand,
New Yorker,
20 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Hyper-aggressive rhetoric on social media, political extremism, and the normalization of violence are certainly contributing factors.—
Andrew Cuomo,
New York Daily News,
2 May 2026
-
Perhaps, as more and more people on the right echo white-supremacist rhetoric, some lawmakers might actually just start saying the thing out loud, and the courts will have to act.—
Vann R. Newkirk II,
The Atlantic,
2 May 2026
Adjective
-
On average, its white blooms appear late April to early May, and develop into interesting inflated three-sided seed pods by autumn.—
Miri Talabac,
Baltimore Sun,
28 Apr. 2026
-
Baldoni’s attorneys pushed back, calling the projections speculative and wildly inflated.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
28 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
That public spat has overshadowed his pontifical tour of four African countries, which ended Thursday with a Mass for thousands of people in Malabo, the former capital of Equatorial Guinea.—
Claudio Lavanga,
NBC news,
23 Apr. 2026
-
The bishops further authorized a new edition of the Roman Pontifical for pontifical Masses, expected to be completed by 2027, with Vatican approval pending for some rites, according to the Catholic News Agency.—
Jordan King,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Fustian.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/fustian. Accessed 3 May. 2026.
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