FUD
n. uncountablen. Stands for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. A strategy used to influence people by spreading negative or scary information about a competitor or a product.
n. Abbreviation for Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt. A disinformation strategy involving the dissemination of negative, vague, or alarming information to undermine public confidence in a competitor, product, or technology.
The company spread FUD to stop people from buying the new software.
Critics of the new cryptocurrency project claimed the negative news reports were merely FUD designed to drive down the market price.
By weaponising FUD, the incumbent firm successfully delayed the adoption of open-source alternatives, forcing potential clients to remain within their proprietary ecosystem.
Initialism of fear, uncertainty, and doubt, a phrase popularised in technology marketing.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Last updated July 19, 2026