pabulum
Americannoun
-
something that nourishes an animal or vegetable organism; food; nutriment.
-
material for intellectual nourishment.
noun
-
food
-
food for thought, esp when bland or dull
Etymology
Origin of pabulum
1670–80; < Latin pābulum food, nourishment, equivalent to pā ( scere ) to feed (akin to food ) + -bulum noun suffix of instrument
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
But their observations about love are such pabulum that a passer-by might mistake what their glimpsing for the opener of a "Saturday Night Live" short film parody.
From Salon ● May 15, 2022
The Peabody Awards praised it for “offering the perfect counter to the enduring prevalence of toxic masculinity,” and the show’s Twitter account, which spouted pabulum about the decency of the human spirit, became extremely popular.
From New York Times ● Nov. 17, 2021
While it sogs relatively quickly, the soft pabulum that remains is still tasty, and sloughs off just enough of that cinnamon and sugar to make a satisfying bowl of cereal milk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2019
A dozen years later, Epstein describes himself as “allergic” to business school slang, to the kind of pabulum espoused in leadership books.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 1, 2016
Back in her unlighted and windowless cabin, she had heard of this "new-fangled" institution where was to be dispensed the pabulum of "larnin'"—and she had made her pilgrimage.
From The Code of the Mountains by Charles Neville Buck
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
