subs. and adj. (old).—1. Bombast; bad rhetoric; sound without sense: bombastic; ranting. Now accepted.
1598. SHAKESPEARE, 2 Henry IV., ii. 4. Thrust him downstairs; I cannot endure such a FUSTIAN rascal. Ibid. (1602), Twelfth Night, ii. 5. A FUSTIAN riddle. Ibid. (1602), Othello, ii. 3. And discourse FUSTIAN with one’s own shadow.
c. 1696. B. E., A New Dictionary of the Canting Crew. FUSTIAN-verse, verse in words of lofty sound and humble sense.
1828–45. HOOD, Poems, i., p. 105 (ed. 1846), ‘Ode to Rae Wilson.’
| The saints!—the bigots that in public spout, | |
| Spread phosphorous of zeal on scraps of FUSTIAN, | |
| And go like walking ‘Lucifers’ about | |
| These living bundles of combustion. |
2. (common).—Wine; WHITE FUSTIAN = champagne; RED FUSTIAN = port.
1834. W. H. AINSWORTH, Rookwood, p. 51 (ed. 1864). I’m as dry as a sandbed. Famous wine this—beautiful tipple—better than all your red FUSTIAN. Ah, how poor Sir Piers used to like it!
