ombliferous

ombliferous

English

Etymology

Coined by British comic writer Edward Lear.

Adjective

ombliferous (comparative more ombliferous, superlative most ombliferous)

1. A nonsense word of vague negative connotation.
   • 1846, Edward Lear, The Book of Nonsense:

     There was an old person of Crete,
     Whose toilet was far from complete,
     She dressed in a sack
     Spickle-speckled with black,
     That ombliferous old person of Crete.

   • 1892, John Hay, Letters of John Hay and Extracts From Diary, volume II, page 241:

     The Corporation of Western Reserve University, with entire unanimity and ombliferous enthusiasm, made you to-day an LL. D. It is no small shakes of a hayseed College, I would have you know.

   • 2016, Earle Looker and Arthur Hayne Mitchell, Colonel Roosevelt and the White House Gang:

     “Don't be so ombliferous,” he said. My jaw dropped. The word was new.