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mouthful

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mouthful¹

  • /ˈmaʊθfʊl/

Where it comes from

From Middle English mouthful, mouth-full, mouthe full, from Old English *mūþfull, from Proto-West Germanic *munþafull, equivalent to mouth + -ful. Compare Dutch mondvol (“mouthful”), German Mundvoll (“mouthful”), Danish mundfuld (“mouthful”), Swedish munfull (“mouthful”), Icelandic munnfylli (“mouthful”). Compare also West Frisian mûlfol (“mouthful”).

noun mouthfuls · mouthsful

  1. The amount that will fit in a mouth. He swallowed a mouthful of sea water when he fell in.
  2. slang Quite a bit. “Unquestionably his metabolism is unduly susceptible to stresses resulting from the interaction of external excitations,” he said, and Bobbie patted him on the shoulder in a maternal sort of way, a thing I wouldn't have cared to do myself though our relations were, as I have indicated, more cordial
  3. Something difficult to pronounce or say. “She sells sea shells” is a bit of a mouthful to say.

    Similar: jawbreaker

  4. A tirade of abusive language. to give someone a mouthful

Similar: belt, chug, draft, draught, drink, gulp, mouthful, nip, shot, sip, slug, swig · Opposite: bootful, bucketful, cupful, gallon

mouthful²

  • /ˈmaʊθfʊl/

Where it comes from

From mouth + -ful.

adjective more mouthful · most mouthful

  1. Bombastic or awkward. Once this happens to be the result, there is little reason for waxing over such mouthful phrases as 'grass-roots democracy', 'democratic decentralization' or 'panchayati raj'.

Thesaurus

Closest in meaning: taste, bite, commendation, summons, quote, quotation, loaf, citation, subpoena, sandwich, mouthfull, morsel, moufful, mittful, mittenful, millful

noun

Similar: belt, chug, draft, draught, drink, gulp, mouthful, nip, shot, sip, slug, swig · Opposite: bootful, bucketful, cupful, gallon

Translations

Every language

noun amount that will fit in a mouth

Españolbocado
Portuguêsbocado
Françaisgorgée, bouchée
DeutschMondvoll
Italianoboccone, boccata, morso
Ελληνικάμπουκιά boukiá
Românăgură, îmbucătură
Русскийкусо́к kusók, глото́к glotók
العربيةلُقْمَة luqma

noun a tirade of abusive language

Españolpalabrotas, sermón, atrevido

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Cite this
MLA

"mouthful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/mouthful. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

mouthful. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/mouthful

Chicago

"mouthful." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/mouthful.

BibTeX
@misc{mouthful_2026,
  title = {mouthful},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/mouthful},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}