fustian

UK: /ˈfʌstɪən/ US: (fus′chən)

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026

fus•tian  (fus′chən), n. 

1. Textiles a stout fabric of cotton and flax.
2. Textiles a fabric of stout twilled cotton or of cotton and low-quality wool, with a short nap or pile.
3. Textiles inflated or turgid language in writing or speaking:
   Fustian can't disguise the author's meager plot.

adj. 

4. made of fustian:
   a fustian coat; fustian bed linen.
5. pompous or bombastic, as language:
   fustian melodrama.
6. worthless;
   cheap:
   fustian knaves and dupes.

• Medieval Latin fūstāneum, perh. a derivative of Latin fūstis stick, cudgel (Late Latin: trunk; compare fusty), if a translation of Latin xylinus, Greek (Septuagint) xýlina lína cotton, literally, linen from wood; Fostat, a suburb of Cairo, has also been proposed as the source of fūstāneum
• Old French fustaigne
• Middle English 1150–1200

Synonyms

• 3. bombast, rant, claptrap.

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::

fustian / ˈfʌstɪən/ noun

1. a hard-wearing fabric of cotton mixed with flax or wool with a slight nap
2. (as modifier): a fustian jacket
3. pompous or pretentious talk or writing

adjective

1. cheap; worthless
2. pompous; bombastic

Etymology: 12th Century: from Old French fustaigne, from Medieval Latin fustāneum, from Latin fustis cudgel