Word
Definition
n. soft, light pieces of wool, hair, or dust that look like small clouds. You often find it on your clothes or under your bed.
n. soft, light, downy particles of fabric, hair, or dust that tend to accumulate in clusters. Often refers to superficial or trivial content in media or literature.
Examples
“I need a brush to remove the white fluff from my black coat.”
“The dryer filter was completely blocked with grey fluff after we washed the new wool blankets.”
“While the lead actor's performance was technically sound, critics dismissed the screenplay as mere cinematic fluff that lacked the emotional depth of his previous work.”
Examples
simple
“I need a brush to remove the white fluff from my black coat.”
contextual
“The dryer filter was completely blocked with grey fluff after we washed the new wool blankets.”
complex
“While the lead actor's performance was technically sound, critics dismissed the screenplay as mere cinematic fluff that lacked the emotional depth of his previous work.”
Usage
Often used metaphorically to describe entertainment or information that is light and lacks substance.
Real-World Examples
“On one occasion, I saw a male come in with a ball of willow fluff that comes off the willow seed and attempt to present that.” “Some people have belly buttons devoid of fluff – while others must clean lint out of theirs every day.” Etymology
From earlier floow (“woolly substance, down, nap, lint”), also spelt flough, flue, and flew, from West Flemish vluwe, of uncertain ultimate origin: * Compare Old English flōh (“that which is flown off, fragment, piece”); see flaw * Possibly representing a blend of flue + puff; compare Middle Dutch vloe, or perhaps onomatopoeic; compare dialectal English floose, flooze, fleeze (“particles of wool or cotton; fluff; loose threads or fibres”), Danish fnug (“down, fluff”), Swedish fnugg (“speck, flake”). * Alternatively, West Flemish vluwe may derive from French velu (“hairy, furry”), from Latin villūtus (“having shaggy hair”), from villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”). For words of similar sound and meaning in other languages, compare Japanese フワフワ (fuwafuwa, “lightly, softly”), Hungarian puha (“soft, fluffy”), Polish puchaty (“soft, fluffy”), Romanian puf (“down, peachfuzz, soft hair of some animals, powderpuff”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Word family
NOUN
ADJECTIVE
- Exam level
- CambridgeCambridgeCambridge English QualificationsThe exam suite from Cambridge University Press & Assessment, from A1 Movers up to C2 Proficiency. The benchmark names double as CEFR labels.B2 FirstIELTSIELTSInternational English Language Testing SystemThe 0–9 band test co-owned by the British Council, IDP, and Cambridge. Used for university entry, work, and migration.5.5–6.5TOEFL iBTTOEFL iBTTest of English as a Foreign Language, Internet-Based TestETS's academic English test, the standard route for US university admissions. Scored 0–120, with a 1–6 scale since 2026.1–6 scale: 4.0–4.572–94TOEICTOEICTest of English for International CommunicationETS's workplace English test, big in Japan and Korea. Listening & Reading scores 10–990 and tops out at C1.785–944
- Frequency
- Frequent
- Level
- B2 · Upper Intermediate
- Updated
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QR code
englishreference.com/q/fluff
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「日本語」 data: JMdict (EDRDG), CC BY-SA 4.0