Meanings
comparative more effusive · superlative most effusive
- Gushy; unrestrained, extravagant or excessive (in emotional expression).
effusive praise
3 more examples
All week I’ve found myself doing everything I can to distance myself in the crew’s eyes from the bovine herd I’m part of, to somehow unimplicate myself: I eschew cameras and sunglasses and pastel Caribbeanwear; I make a big deal of carrying my own cafeteria tray and am effusive in my thanks for the slightest service.
1997, David Foster Wallace, “A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again”, in A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again, Kindle edition, Little, Brown Book GroupWhile he is reasonably effusive about inter-city travel, he is heavily disparaging of all types of stopping service, including those on otherwise busy main lines. His analysis is not entirely unsound, and he tackles some of the questions head on.
2023 March 8, Gareth Dennis, “The Reshaping of things to come...”, in RAIL, number 978, page 47[US president Donald] Trump has developed a warm relationship with [NATO Secretary-General Mark] Rutte, who courted the president at last June’s NATO summit with effusive flattery and commitments to boosting European members’ “fair share” of alliance spending.
2026 April 5, Howard LaFranchi, “Trump’s war in Iran puts new strain on alliances. Why this time it’s different.”, in The Christian Science Monitor, Boston, Massachusetts: Christian Science Publishing Society, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 Apr 2026Synonyms: gushy
- archaicPouring, spilling out freely; overflowing.
wash'd with the effusive wave
1726, Homer, “Book XXII”, in [Alexander Pope], transl., The Odyssey of Homer. […], volume V, London: […] Bernard Lintot, →OCLC - geographyExtrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava.
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveGushy; unrestrained, extravagant or excessive (in emotional expression).
More synonyms by meaning
adjectiveextravagantly demonstrative
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Medieval Latineffūsīvus
- Englisheffusive
Borrowed from Medieval Latin effūsīvus, 1660s.
More words from Medieval Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian експанзивен, несдържан
- експанзивен (ekspanziven)extravagant or excessive
- несдържан (nesdăržan)extravagant or excessive
- преливащ (prelivašt)pouring, spilling out freely; overflowing
Catalan efusiu, emotiu
- efusiuextravagant or excessive
- emotiuextravagant or excessive
- efusiupouring, spilling out freely; overflowing
Danish overvældende
- overvældendeextravagant or excessive
Dutch buitenissig, excessief
- buitenissigextravagant or excessive
- excessiefextravagant or excessive
Finnish ylenpalttinen, ylenmääräinen
- ylenpalttinenextravagant or excessive
- ylenmääräinenextravagant or excessive
- ylitsevuotavaextravagant or excessive
- ekstrusiivinenextrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
French expansif, généreux
- expansifextravagant or excessive
- généreuxextravagant or excessive
- émotifextravagant or excessive
- effusifpouring, spilling out freely; overflowing
- effusifextrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
German überschwänglich, vulkanisch
- überschwänglichextravagant or excessive
- vulkanischextrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
- Extrusiv-extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
- Erguss-extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
- Ausbruchs-extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
- Effusiv-extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
Greek διαχυτικός
- διαχυτικός (diachytikós)extravagant or excessive
Māori pātere, pātere
- pātereextravagant or excessive
- pāterepouring, spilling out freely; overflowing
Portuguese efusivo
- efusivoextravagant or excessive
Romanian efuziv
- efuzivextrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
Russian экспанси́вный, бу́рный
- экспанси́вный (ekspansívnyj)extravagant or excessive
- бу́рный (búrnyj)extravagant or excessive
- необу́зданный (neobúzdannyj)extravagant or excessive
- несде́ржанный (nesdéržannyj)extravagant or excessive
- неуме́ренный (neumérennyj)extravagant or excessive
- я́рко вы́раженный (járko výražennyj)extravagant or excessive
- переполня́ющий (perepolnjájuščij)pouring, spilling out freely; overflowing
- лью́щийся че́рез край (lʹjúščijsja čérez kraj)pouring, spilling out freely; overflowing
- эффузивный (effuzivnyj)extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
- вулканический (vulkaničeskij)extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
- излившийся из вулкана (izlivšijsja iz vulkana)extrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
Spanish comunicativo, expansivo
- comunicativoextravagant or excessive
- expansivoextravagant or excessive
- efusivoextravagant or excessive
- emotivoextravagant or excessive
- rebosantepouring, spilling out freely; overflowing
- extrusivoextrusive; having solidified after being poured out as molten lava
Swedish översvallande
- översvallandeextravagant or excessive
Turkish coşkulu, coşkun
- coşkuluextravagant or excessive
- coşkunextravagant or excessive
- taşkınextravagant or excessive
Cite this entry
effusive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effusive
“effusive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effusive. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “effusive,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/effusive.
Source: effusive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.