pabulum
Americannoun
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something that nourishes an animal or vegetable organism; food; nutriment.
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material for intellectual nourishment.
noun
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food
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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.
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
Sadly, a head-scratching lack of extras, only including a paltry six-minutes worth of promotional pabulum, relegates the great effort to a rental or on-demand viewing.
From Washington Times • Feb. 18, 2016
It’s actually a pretty easy issue to defuse: just churn out some pabulum about how running for president is difficult and you’re thinking about the future of the country and blah blah blah.
From Salon • Oct. 7, 2015
The operatic pabulum in England consisted of the works of Balfe and Wallace.
From Masters of French Music by Hervey, Arthur
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.
