fud
noun
a fuddy-duddy.
fud
1 American
[fuhd]
/ fʌd /
noun
Slang.
FUD
2
American
[ef-yoo-dee, fuhd]
/ ˈɛfˈjuˈdi, fʌd /
abbreviation
-
FUDs
plural
-
fear, uncertainty, and doubt:
Her article should help reduce FUD and increase understanding about the upcoming policy changes.
Traders are concerned about the effect of the current FUD factor on stock markets.
FUDs about the new technology are keeping people from buying into it.
Etymology
Origin of fud
First recorded in 1910–15; back formation from fuddy-duddy
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:
On Telegram accounts, repeat fud spreaders are booted out.
From New York Times ● Aug. 5, 2021
There in her hand, we noted: some fud!
From The Guardian ● Oct. 21, 2017
Finally some of us went to Grate Leeder and are like: Grate Leeder, let us go farth and find some fud, plus a better plase to live.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 21, 2017
And before we knew it, we too, lerd by her fud, had been intaken into FoxViewCommons, rite threw their Dore!
From The Guardian ● Oct. 21, 2017
Rejoice, ye birring patricks a’; Ye cootie moor-cocks, crousely craw; Ye maukins, cock your fud fu’ braw, Withouten dread; Your mortal fae is now awa’— Tam Samson’s dead!
From The Complete Works of Robert Burns: Containing his Poems, Songs, and Correspondence. With a New Life of the Poet, and Notices, Critical and Biographical by Allan Cunningham by Robert Burns
The fourth item on the list was "Ignore FUD, fake news, attacks," using an acronym for "fear, uncertainty and doubt" often used in crypto in relation to news perceived as negative.
From Reuters ● Feb. 17, 2023
Over the years, I’ve talked to a lot of engineers and designers at Intuit, and there’s this marketing concept that they invoke internally called FUD, which stands for fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
From Slate ● Apr. 18, 2022
When Leon Panetta, then secretary of defense, warned of a coming “Cyber Pearl Harbor” in 2012, he was dismissed as stoking FUD.
From New York Times ● Feb. 6, 2021
In cybersecurity, where ordinary digital anxiety is compounded by esoteric threats, the use of FUD to generate business is especially notable.
From The New Yorker ● Oct. 28, 2019
After 1990 the term FUD was associated increasingly frequently with Microsoft, and has become generalized to refer to any kind of disinformation used as a competitive weapon.
From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Guy L. Steele
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.
