fluff

Etymology

The noun is of uncertain origin.^[2][3] Most dictionaries take it as probably a dialect alteration of flue, down or nap, recorded from the 16th century;^[4][5][6][7] the OED suggests an imitative change, suggesting the action of puffing away something light,^[2][8] Weekley saw in it flue combined with puff,^[9] and Dictionary.com calls it perhaps a blend of the two.^[10] Barnhart and Etymonline take it as a variant of the earlier floow or flue, a woolly substance or nap (1589), perhaps borrowed through West Flemish vluwe from French velu (“shaggy, hairy”), from Latin vellus (“fleece”), or through Vulgar Latin *villūtus from Latin villus (“tuft of hair”), the source of velvet.^[11][8] The Shorter Oxford, which glosses the Flemish word as fluff, also compares Dutch fluweel (“velvet”).^[12] The OED adds that an unrecorded Old English *flug, from the root of fly, would explain both fluff and flue if it had existed, and compares Low German flug.^[2] The verb is from the noun.^[8][11][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Light, feathery matter, such as the down that separates from dressed wool: 1790, in Grose's Provincial Glossary,^[2][8][11] where it is recorded in Kent for the down of a peach.^[13]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th century fluff was in general dialect use in Scotland and England for down, small pieces of fur or feather and the particles that come off new cloth; in Cumberland it was the lightest chaff, and in parts of northern England a feather.^[13] From 1862 it also meant a soft downy mass,^[2] and since 1883 the soft fur of an animal.^[2] In 1872 O. W. Holmes used the verb for settling down like fluff,^[11][2] and since 1875 it has meant to shake something up into a soft mass.^[2][8] The sense "mistake" began in theatre slang: to fluff was to blunder one's part (1884, in G. Moore's A Mummer's Wife),^[2][8][11] and a fluff was a half-learned line (1891).^[2] It spread to broadcasting and music, and in 1902 to games and examinations.^[2] The figurative sense of something insubstantial or trifling, especially sentimental writing, dates from 1906,^[2] and bit of fluff, a young woman, from 1903; it is now often considered offensive.^[2][8][7] In American slang fluff also described lightweight or meaningless writing, from 1939 in R. Chandler.^[14]

Timeline

• 1790 – light, feathery matter, such as down.^[2][8][11]
• 1862 – a soft, downy mass.^[2]
• 1872 – verb, to settle down like fluff.^[2][11]
• 1875 – verb, to shake up into a soft mass.^[2][8]
• 1883 – the soft fur of an animal.^[2]
• 1884 – verb, in theatre slang, to blunder one's part.^[2][8][11]
• 1891 – noun, lines half learned and badly delivered; later, a mistake in broadcasting or music.^[2]
• 1902 – verb, to bungle a stroke in a game, or to fail an examination.^[2]
• 1903 – bit of fluff, a young woman.^[2][8]
• 1906 – something insubstantial or trifling, especially writing.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. Soft, light particles of fibre, as from wool or cotton, that gather in small clumps: There was fluff all over his dark coat.^[7][15][2]
2. Any soft, downy substance, especially the fur or feathers of a young animal or bird.^{[7][15][4][2]}
3. Something trivial or lacking substance, especially light entertainment or writing.^[7][4][2]
4. (informal) A mistake, especially in speaking lines, broadcasting, playing music or in a game.^[7][2]
5. bit of fluff (informal, offensive): a young woman.^[7][2]
6. A light dish made fluffy with beaten egg whites.^[4]

Verb

1. To make something softer and fuller by shaking or patting it, often with up: He fluffed up the cushions before the visitors came.^[7][4][2]
2. To become fluffy, or to move or float lightly like fluff.^[4][2]
3. (informal) To make a mistake in, or bungle, a performance, a shot or a test: She fluffed her opening line.^[7][4][2]

Word family

• fluffer
• fluffy
• unfluffed

Related words

• flue
• velvet
• puff

Usage notes

In Scots and northern English, fluff is also a puff or whiff, as of wind or smoke (from 1819), and a verb meaning to puff or pant (from 1790); dictionaries give it a separate, imitative origin.^{[2][12][4][13]}

References

1. ^ Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 Oxford English Dictionary Online (accessed March 2026), Oxford: Oxford University Press
3. ^ The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (online 2024), 5th ed., Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Merriam-Webster Unabridged Dictionary (2024), online ed., Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster
5. ^ Stevenson, Angus, ed. (2010), Oxford Dictionary of English, 3rd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Hoad, T. F., ed. (1986), The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Collins English Dictionary (2023), Glasgow: HarperCollins
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
9. ^ Weekley, Ernest (1921), An Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, London: John Murray
10. ^ Dictionary.com Unabridged (2016), based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, New York: Random House
11. ^ a b c d e f g h Barnhart, Robert K. (1988), The Barnhart Dictionary of Etymology
12. ^ a b Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles (2002), 5th ed., ed. William R. Trumble and Angus Stevenson, Oxford: Oxford University Press
13. ^ a b c Wright, Joseph, ed. (1898–1905), The English Dialect Dictionary, 6 vols., Oxford: Henry Frowde; via EDD Online 4.0, University of Innsbruck (CC BY 4.0)
14. ^ Green, Jonathon (2010), Green's Dictionary of Slang, London: Chambers; digital ed. 2016–, https://greensdictofslang.com
15. ^ a b Pearsall, Judy, ed. (1998), The New Oxford Dictionary of English, Oxford: Clarendon Press