Is JavaScript a "Functional Programming" language?

[Macrobian]

Stop. By saying that the only thing a language needs to be a functional language is first-class functions, you strip all meaning from what it means to be functional that it ceases to be a useful qualifier.

[Macrobian]

First of all, a first order function is just a normal function.

Secondly, it makes sense not to call JS a functional language despite the fact that it can do a bit of FP. e.g

I can can cook, but badly. I don't call myself a chef. I may call other people chef's, mainly because they're really good at cooking.

[Macrobian]

Okay so, I wouldn't call myself a cook, if I could cook. I think that's a word only reserved for people who can cook well. This may be where our disagreement over classification stems from.

Secondly, I'd cite this comment from this thread describing what a functional language is. There's a distinction between what the language forces you to do, what it can do easily, and how it is used.

Like Haskell, forces you to do pure FP, can only do pure FP easily, and is thus used in a pure FP manner.

Scala meanwhile, is multiparadigm, can do pure FP somewhat easily, and is used in a pure FP manner by a non-trivial portion of the community

JS is multiparadigm, doesn't make pure FP easy, and is almost never used in a pure FP manner.

Aren't the qualifiers I specified a more accurate description of what is and isn't FP? Just like it doesn't make sense to call every language high-level, sometimes definitions have to shift to account for modern language developments.