fustian
fust·i·an/ˈfʌs.t͡ʃən/noun, adjective
fustian is spelled F-U-S-T-I-A-N: 7 letters and 3 syllables (fust·i·an). It appears about once in every 31 million words in written English, the 169,822nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, fustian means “Originally, a kind of coarse fabric made from cotton and flax; now, a kind of coarse twilled cotton, or cotton and linen, stuff with a short pile and…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of fustian is fustians.
How many letters and syllables are in fustian?
| Letters | 7: F-U-S-T-I-A-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: fust·i·an |
| In writing | about once in every 31 million words; the 169,822nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is fustian?
Fustian appears about once in every 31 million words in written English, the 169,822nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce fustian?
- UK /ˈfʌs.tɪ.ən/
- UK /ˈfʌs.tʃən/
- US /ˈfʌs.t͡ʃən/
Fustian has 3 syllables, split fust·i·an in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-fustian.wav, En-us-fustian.oga, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of fustian
- fustians plural
- more fustian comparative
- most fustian superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does fustian mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Originally, a kind of coarse fabric made from cotton and flax; now, a kind of coarse twilled cotton, or cotton and linen, stuff with a short pile and often dyed a dull colour, which is chiefly prepared for menswear.
- 2
A class of fabric including corduroy and velveteen.
- 3
Inflated, pompous, or pretentious speech or writing; bombast; also (archaic), incoherent or unintelligible speech or writing; gibberish, nonsense.
- 4
archaicChiefly in rum fustian: a hot drink made of a mixture of alcoholic beverages (as beer, gin, and sherry or white wine) with egg yolk, lemon, and spices.
adjective
- 1
Made out of fustian (noun sense 1).
- 2
Of a person, or their speech or writing: using inflated, pompous, or pretentious language; bombastic; grandiloquent; also (obsolete) using incoherent or unintelligible language.
- 3
obsoleteImaginary; invented.
- 4
obsoleteUseless; worthless.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Fustian in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense kind of coarse fabric made from cotton and flax; kind of coarse twilled cotton:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does fustian come from?
The noun is derived from Middle English fustian (“type of fabric, probably made from cotton, flax, or wool; piece of fustian spread over a bed or mattress”) [and other forms], from Old French fustaine, fustaigne (modern French futaine), from Medieval Latin fūstāneum, from (pannus) fūstāneus or (tela) fūstānea, of disputed origin. Sense 3 (“inflated, pompous, or pretentious speech or writing”) is possibly from the fact that the fabric was sometimes used to make cushion- and pillowcases, thus suggesting that the speech or writing is “padded” or “stuffed”; compare bombast.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).