fuzz

¹ American  

[fuhz] / fʌz /

noun

1. loose, light, fibrous, or fluffy matter.

2. a mass or coating of such matter.

   the fuzz on a peach.

3. Slang. a man's very short haircut, similar to a crew cut.

4. a blur.

   That photo is all fuzz.

5. a distorted sound from an electric musical instrument, especially a guitar, produced by means of an electronic device.

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verb (used with or without object)

fuzzes, present (3rd person singular) fuzzed, past participle, past fuzzing present participle

1. to make or become blurred or unclear (sometimes followed by up orout ).

   He fuzzed up the plot line with a lot of emotional nonsense. The image fuzzed and then disappeared.

fuzz ² American  

[fuhz] / fʌz /

noun

Older Slang.

fuzz, plural fuzzes plural

1. Usually the fuzz the police; police officers collectively.

   The fuzz were called by a neighbor and three policeman showed up.

2. a police officer or detective.

   Fuzzes caught the burglar trying to escape through the back alley.

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fuzz ¹ British  

/ fʌz /

noun

1. a mass or covering of fine or curly hairs, fibres, etc

2. a blur

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verb

1. to make or become fuzzy

2. to make or become indistinct; blur

fuzz ² British  

/ fʌz /

noun

1. a slang word for police policeman

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Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• fuzz
  plural
• fuzzes
  plural

Participles

• fuzzing
  present
• fuzzed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• fuzz
  simple
• fuzzes
  simple
• have fuzzed
  perfect
• has fuzzed
  perfect
• am fuzzing
  progressive
• are fuzzing
  progressive
• is fuzzing
  progressive
• have been fuzzing
  perfect progressive
• has been fuzzing
  perfect progressive

Past

• fuzzed
  simple
• had fuzzed
  perfect
• was fuzzing
  progressive
• were fuzzing
  progressive
• had been fuzzing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will fuzz
  simple
• will have fuzzed
  perfect
• will be fuzzing
  progressive
• will have been fuzzing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of fuzz¹

First recorded in 1595–1605; origin uncertain; perhaps a back formation from fuzzy ( def. ); compare Dutch voos “spongy, woolly”

Origin of fuzz²

An Americanism dating back to 1920–25; of uncertain origin

Explanation

Fuzz is a downy or hair patch of fibers. Most kids love to blow the fuzz off of a dandelion. The furry growth on your cactus plant is fuzz, and so is your sister's frizzy hair and your cousin's patchy attempt at sideburns. You can also call an unfocused, blurry image fuzz: "I was so tired that there was fuzz at the edges of my vision." Informally, some people refer to police officers as fuzz too, a usage that dates from 1920s US gangster slang.

Example Sentences

The instrument also paved the way to an aesthetics of electricity—feedback, distortion, fuzz, sheer volume—that led to such genres as heavy metal, punk, grunge and shoegaze.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 14, 2026

"If you're driving in here, everything would be a fuzz to you on the notices because they are so small."

From BBC • Apr. 12, 2025

A small bit of fuzz attached to a motionless object next to them wavered in the wind.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2025

She leaves alpaca yarn outside so an Oak Titmouse can line her nest with the soft fuzz.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 30, 2024

The air was filled with fuzz and lint, so that she kept sneezing and drop-ping the yarn.

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry

Related Words

• lint