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fuzzy

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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English

Etymology

Uncertain. Apparently from fuzz +‎ -y, though some sources suggest that fuzz derives from fuzzy. Compare fozy, or Low German fussig (“loose; spongy”).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈfʌzi/
  • Audio (US):(file)
  • Rhymes: -ʌzi

Adjective

fuzzy (comparative fuzzier, superlative fuzziest)

  1. Covered with fuzz or a large number of tiny loose fibres like a carpet or many stuffed animals.
  2. Vague or imprecise.
    Synonyms: ambiguous, equivocal; see also Thesaurus:vague
    My recollection of that event is fuzzy.
    • 2014, Didier J. Dubois, Readings in Fuzzy Sets for Intelligent Systems, page 85:
      In particular, a very crisp quantifier such as “for all,” “there exists,” “at least 50 percent” tend to have less disperse weighting vectors while fuzzier quantifiers such as many tend to have a more disperse weighting vector.
    • 2017 November 3, Rochelle Sharpe, “Are You First Gen? Depends on Who’s Asking”, in The New York Times‎:
      Trying to help a high school senior get into his dream school, Laurie Kopp Weingarten called the college to emphasize that the boy should be able to lay claim to the latest, and fuzziest, of all admissions hooks: being a first-generation student.
  3. Not clear; unfocused.
    Synonyms: blurry, ill-defined; see also Thesaurus:indistinct
    I finally threw out a large stack of fuzzy photos.
  4. Warm and comforting; affectionate.
    • 1996, Kath Filmer-Davies, “Belonging and the Right of Possession”, in Fantasy Fiction and Welsh Myth, →ISBN, page 110:
      Cooper has a strong sense of Welsh place; she has also a strong sense of the responsibilities of belonging. To belong is not merely a nice, fuzzy feeling; rather it means that there are grave duties to perform and serious moral battles to be fought […] .
    • 2025, Kit Meredith, An Extraordinary Passion, →ISBN:
      It had been a long time since anyone had sent her a gift, […] . And it was a long time since anything she'd received from someone had made her feel that fuzzy inside.
  5. (computing theory) Employing or relating to fuzzy logic.

Derived terms

Translations

Noun

fuzzy (plural fuzzies)

  1. (often in the plural) A very small piece of plush material such as lint.
    You've got a fuzzy on your coat.
  2. Something covered with fuzz or hair, as an animal or plush toy.
    • 2000, Kim Schilling, Ferrets for Dummies, New York: Wiley, →ISBN, page 1:
      If you don't yet have a ferret, this book can help you decide whether a fuzzy is for you.
  3. (slang) A person, especially a college student, interested in humanities or social sciences, as opposed to one interested in mathematics, science, or engineering.
    • 2010, Donald Barr, Questioning the Premedical Paradigm […] , Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, →ISBN, page 2:
      A "fuzzy" on the other hand is a "people person," — someone who prefers studying the humanities or social sciences, someone who sees the world in broad contextual terms.
    • 2017, Scott Hartley, The Fuzzy and the Techie […] ‎, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN:
      If you majored in the humanities or social sciences, you were a fuzzy, and if you majored in engineering or computer science, you were a techie.
  4. (slang, military) A soldier with the rank of private.
  5. (slang) A police officer.

References

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