pabulum
noun
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Pabulum derives from the Latin term for "food" or "fodder" and was first used in English in the 17th century for anything taken in by plants or animals to maintain life and growth. Within 30 years of its first appearance in English texts, it was also being used to refer to things so intellectually stimulating or nourishing that they could be considered food for thought. But the word took on a whole new flavor in the 1930s when a team of Canadian doctors formulated a highly nutritious (but bland) baby cereal and named their product "Pablum" (based on the Latin word). As a result, the similar-looking "pabulum" did a linguistic about-face and is now often used for things that are bland and unstimulating as well as for things that are intellectually sustaining.
Examples of pabulum in a Sentence
Mike McCahill, Variety, 8 May 2023
Twitter account, which spouted pabulum about the decency of the human spirit, became extremely popular.
—New York Times, 17 Nov. 2021
Try to imagine Britain’s prime minister rallying his nation to fight the Nazi war machine armed with this progressive pabulum.
—Joseph Loconte, National Review, 9 Sep. 2020
After quoting extensively from a Communist writer, Kengor dismisses the content of the quotation out of hand without making any argument: This, of course, is relativistic pabulum.
—Cameron Hilditch, National Review, 3 Sep. 2020
His onscreen counterpart in the film adaptation of this story, Memoir of a Murderer, trades in this complexity for more standard antihero pabulum (his only desire is to keep Eunhui safe).
—Alana Mohamed, The Atlantic, 11 June 2019
The pabulum that passes for most reviews is an insult to the intelligence of most readers.
—Christian Lorentzen, Harper's magazine, 10 Apr. 2019
They are just being fed this pabulum of leftist ideology.
—Fox News, 25 Apr. 2018
Direct pronouncements from him are so rare that even this pabulum was treated as push-alert-worthy news.
—Jane Mayer, The New Yorker, 12 Mar. 2018
Articles Related to pabulum
Dictionary Entries Near pabulum
Cite this Entry
“Pabulum.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pabulum. Accessed 22 Nov. 2024.
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pabulum
noun
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