Superlative form of gulfy; the most characteristic of or resembling a gulf.
From 'gulfy' plus the superlative suffix '-est'. The base 'gulf' comes from Old French 'golfe', from Greek 'kolpos'. The superlative '-est' indicates the highest degree of the quality.
Just as we say 'the biggest ocean,' someone in the 1800s might describe the most gulf-like body of water as 'the gulfiest'—these old superlatives show how creatively English speakers could describe geography before we had modern technical terms!
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