fluff
Americannoun
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fluffs
plural
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light, downy particles, as of cotton.
-
a soft, light, downy mass.
a fluff of summer clouds.
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something of no consequence.
The book is pure fluff, but fun to read.
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an error or blunder, especially an actor's memory lapse in the delivery of lines.
verb (used with object)
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fluffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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fluffed,
past participle, past
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fluffing
present participle
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to make into fluff; shake or puff out (feathers, hair, etc.) into a fluffy mass (often followed byup ).
to fluff up the sofa pillows.
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to make a mistake in.
The leading man fluffed his lines.
verb (used without object)
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fluffs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
fluffed,
past participle, past
-
fluffing
present participle
-
to become fluffy; move, float, or settle down like fluff.
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to make a mistake, especially in the delivery of lines by a performer; blunder.
noun
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soft light particles, such as the down or nap of cotton or wool
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any light downy substance
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an object, matter, etc, of little importance; trifle
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informal a mistake, esp in speaking or reading lines or performing music
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informal a young woman (esp in the phrase a bit of fluff )
verb
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to make or become soft and puffy by shaking or patting; puff up
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informal to make a mistake in performing (an action, dramatic speech, music, etc)
Usage
What does fluff mean? Fluff is a light, soft mass, such as cotton or a cloud, as in After I shaved my head, the hair that grew back was soft, like fluff. To fluff something means to shake or puff out something, as with pillows. When you fluff your hair, you might shake it out a bit so that it puffs up and looks fluffy. Fluff can also describe something that is of little importance, such as a novel that someone deems fun but not at all serious. Fluff is also a mistake, especially a situation in which an actor forgets their lines. To fluff is to make such a mistake, as in Valerie fluffed her lines during the first scene, but she quickly recovered. Example: When Grace and I were stuffing the pillows we had made, we had fluff flying all over the living room.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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fluffsimple
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fluffssimple
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have fluffedperfect
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has fluffedperfect
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am fluffingprogressive
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are fluffingprogressive
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is fluffingprogressive
-
have been fluffingperfect progressive
-
has been fluffingperfect progressive
Past
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fluffedsimple
-
had fluffedperfect
-
was fluffingprogressive
-
were fluffingprogressive
-
had been fluffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of fluff
Explanation
Fluff is a soft, light puffy or feathery material. Your pet angora rabbit is covered in fluff, and when you blow the down off a dandelion, you can call that fluff too. A department store window designer might use white cotton fluff as snow in his holiday display, and a bored dog might pull the fluff out of every pillow in the house while you're at work. The word fluff is also a verb meaning "to shake or ruffle until something looks fuller." It's also a great way to describe something meaningless or frivolous: "I had high hopes for the newspaper article, but it was just fluff."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
While there’s nothing wrong, per se, with ExpressVPN’s extra bundled goodies, they come down to fluff.
From Salon ● Mar. 13, 2026
But Florrie is not just a fun ball of fluff, she has got a job to do: helping young people navigate an increasingly complex world.
From BBC ● Mar. 4, 2026
“Superman,” arriving three years after “Jaws,” was a product of Hollywood’s move toward blockbusters and a sign that the business was aiming for fluff that would make millions of dollars.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
“Spam, fluff, clickbait, churnalism, kitsch — slop: These are all ways to describe mass-produced, low-quality content.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 5, 2025
He kissed the piece of fluff and tucked it inside his shirt.
From "Abel's Island" by William Steig
Yeh categorizes sweet salads with affection and a wink: cookie salads, Jell-O salads, candy bar salads, fluffs.
From Salon ● Apr. 27, 2025
“I realized these fluffs were dead mice that were melted into our oven that I had fed our family with for four years,” she said.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 22, 2022
Rafa Mir - the man who replaced Rakitic - should score from six yards but fluffs his header.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 14, 2021
Which is kind of the problem, because as every SoCal resident knows, palm trees shed, and we’re not talking gentle fluffs of fur.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 28, 2018
Where the bark was peeling from die trunks it lifted in tiny tendrils, almost fluffs.
From "Hatchet" by Gary Paulsen
James, who had fluffed his first run, was next to go and punched the air with his trademark red gloves but his score of 93.50 was only enough to lift him into the silver position.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Toronto loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth but failed to conjure a run, and the Dodgers did the same in the 10th as expectation mounted, but both sides fluffed their lines.
From BBC ● Nov. 2, 2025
Launched in 1964, four years after Coronation Street, the show initially ran five days a week and was also known for performers' fluffed lines.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2025
Short answer: Syrupy oil fluffed into a semi-solid.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2025
At home, she took them apart at the seams, washed their pelts, fluffed their filling, repolished their eyes.
From "Little Fires Everywhere" by Celeste Ng
So, I’m fluffing pillows and I’m making the bed, doing all these things.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 24, 2026
Heading into the free skate section in the lead, Malinin capitulated, fluffing his signature quad axel jump and falling twice to the ice to plummet to eighth spot overall.
From Barron's ● Feb. 16, 2026
So now Saka’s getting bashed for fluffing his résumé — the firefighters called it a “lie” — when Saka didn’t have anything to do with it.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 1, 2023
And as for the strikers fluffing their lines time after time, what else can we expect when we bring in guys who score six, eight, 10 goals a season?
From BBC ● Aug. 30, 2023
My mother helped me adjust, fluffing the pillow behind my head and pulling the sheet over me, up to my chin, which was way too far.
From "All American Boys" by Jason Reynolds
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
