Fustian

fus' chan, formerly a costly textile of linen and wool, woven with a pile, or heavily napped. It was in use during the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries for priests' robes and women's dresses. Gradually the fabric came to be imitated in linen and cotton, and finally in cotton alone. The strength and durability of fustian made it suitable for laborers and servants, and its use was confined at one time to this class of persons. At the present time the word fustian is a general term including several different fabrics of similar qualities. Moleskin, velveteen, corduroy, beaverteen, and thickset are fustian. From the fact that fustian was thick and stiff, increasing the apparent size of the wearer, the word came to be used in a figurative sense to designate a florid style of speaking or writing, in which words and phrases are more high-sounding than the subject warrants. So the word bombast, originally meaning cotton batting, which is used for padding, has acquired a similar, and even stronger figurative meaning.

Prithee, let's talk fustian a little, and gull them; make them believe we are great scholars.--Ben Jonson.

Bombast is commonly the delight of that audience which loves poetry but understands it not.--Dryden.