fug

American  

[fuhg] / fʌg /

noun

1. stale air, especially the humid, warm, ill-smelling air of a crowded room, kitchen, etc.

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fug British  

/ fʌɡ /

noun

1. a hot, stale, or suffocating atmosphere

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Other Word Forms

• fuggy adjective

Etymology

Origin of fug

First recorded in 1885–90; originally British dialect and boarding school slang; further origin obscure; compare earlier British slang fogo “stench”

Example Sentences

The American was already a major champion and had won twice that season but he was in a fug.

From BBC • Jul. 15, 2025

Armies of young women emerged from the fug of subway stations every day to fill the offices of those magazines.

From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 23, 2022

It was filthy: lice-ridden, moldy, overpowered by the fug of overflowing latrines and rotting flesh.

From Washington Post • Apr. 27, 2020

But the setup refuses to deliver, grammatically, and the novel hangs, like the narrator herself, in a fug of unresolved tension.

From The New Yorker • Sep. 6, 2019

The fug of body odour, perfume and laundry soap hangs oppressively above bowed, damp heads.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins