stuff

[ stuhf ]

/ stʌf /

Save This Word!

See synonyms for: stuff / stuffed / stuffing on Thesaurus.com

noun

the material of which anything is made: a hard, crystalline stuff.

material to be worked upon or to be used in making something: wood, steel, and other stuff for building.

material of some unspecified kind: a cushion filled with some soft stuff.

Chiefly British. woven material or fabric, especially wool.

property, as personal belongings or equipment; things.

something to be swallowed, as food, drink, or medicine.

inward character, qualities, or capabilities: to have good stuff in one.

Informal. action or talk of a particular kind: kid stuff; Cut out the rough stuff.

worthless things or matter: to clean the stuff out of a closet.

worthless or foolish ideas, talk, or writing: a lot of stuff and nonsense.

Sports.

Baseball. the assortment of pitches that a pitcher uses in a game together with the ability to deliver them in the proper manner at the right speed to the desired spot: He saved his best stuff for the tougher hitters in the lineup.
spin or speed imparted to a ball, as by a baseball pitcher, a bowler, or a tennis player: a pitch with plenty of stuff.

Informal. journalistic, literary, artistic, dramatic, musical, or other compositions or performances: Bach composed some splendid stuff.

Informal. one's trade, skill, field, facts, etc.: She knows her stuff.

Slang. any kind of drug, especially an illicit one.

Also called stock. Papermaking. refined and beaten wet pulp ready for spreading on the wire.

verb (used with object)

to fill (a receptacle), especially by packing the contents closely together; cram full.

to fill (an aperture, cavity, etc.) by forcing something into it.

to fill or line with some kind of material as a padding or packing.

to fill or cram (oneself, one's stomach, etc.) with food.

Cooking. to fill (meat, vegetables, etc.) with seasoned breadcrumbs or other savory matter.

to fill the preserved skin of (a dead animal) with material, retaining its natural form and appearance for display.

to put fraudulent votes into (a ballot box).

to thrust or cram (something) into a receptacle, cavity, or the like.

to pack tightly in a confined place; crowd together.

to crowd (a vehicle, room, etc.) with persons.

to clutter or fill (the mind) with facts, details, etc.

(in leather manufacturing) to treat (a skin, hide, etc.) with a composition of tallow and other ingredients.

to stop up or plug; block or choke (usually followed by up).

verb (used without object)

to cram oneself with food; eat gluttonously; gorge.

SYNONYMS FOR stuff

9 junk, debris, litter; refuse, waste, rubbish, trash.

10 blather, gibberish, rigmarole, nonsense, twaddle, claptrap, balderdash.

23 jam, compress, press, ram; stow.

28 clog, obstruct.

See synonyms for stuff on Thesaurus.com

QUIZZES

THINK YOU’VE GOT A HANDLE ON THIS US STATE NICKNAME QUIZ?

Did you ever collect all those state quarters? Put them to good use on this quiz about curious state monikers and the facts around them.

Question 1 of 8

Mississippi’s nickname comes from the magnificent trees that grow there. What is it?

The Sunflower State

The Evergreen State

The Magnolia State

The Mockingbird State

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

Origin of stuff

First recorded in 1300–50; (verb) late Middle English stuffen “to equip, furnish,” from Old French estoffer literally, “to stuff,” from unattested Frankish stopfōn, stoppōn; (noun) Middle English, from Old French estoffe, derivative of the verb; see stop

synonym study for stuff

1-3. See matter.

OTHER WORDS FROM stuff

stuffless, adjectivere·stuff, verb (used with object)un·der·stuff, verb (used with object)un·stuff, verb (used with object)

un·stuffed, adjectivewell-stuffed, adjective

Words nearby stuff

stud welding, studwork, study, study group, study hall, stuff, stuff and nonsense, stuffed, stuffed shirt, stuffer, stuff gown

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2021

Example sentences from the Web for stuff

As we hired new employees, a few did stupid stuff, leading to errors that cost the company money.
What if Your Company Had No Rules? (Bonus Episode)|Maria Konnikova|September 12, 2020|Freakonomics
There’s a societal position that these cases are between these two people, and if it’s between a man and a woman, that’s personal stuff that we can’t get involved in.
“People want to believe”: How Love Fraud builds an absorbing docuseries around a romantic con man|Alissa Wilkinson|September 4, 2020|Vox
So now we get to the cool stuff – reverse-engineering the SERPs to snag those premium organic placements.
How to become a master of featured snippets|Mark Webster|September 3, 2020|Search Engine Watch
That’s going to create more pressure for the stuff that isn’t political.
‘A healthy rebound’: Programmatic rally continues for publishers|Max Willens|September 3, 2020|Digiday

It tracks the typical fitness stuff you’d expect like steps and pulse trends.
Amazon’s new fitness tracker listens to your voice to figure out your mood|Stan Horaczek|September 2, 2020|Popular Science
The best comparison here for an American audience is, well, Internet stuff.
Trolls and Martyrdom: Je Ne Suis Pas Charlie|Arthur Chu|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
We did ThunderAnt stuff for ourselves and just put it online, and then it blossomed into something else.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I think all the traveling and all the nationalities put that stuff in my head.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
It was a bit strange for a while here with all the Newsweek stuff.
Coffee Talk with Fred Armisen: On ‘Portlandia,’ Meeting Obama, and Taylor Swift’s Greatness|Marlow Stern|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
There were a lot of little pieces, pieces of lead and stuff.
The Story Behind Lee Marvin’s Liberty Valance Smile|Robert Ward|January 3, 2015|DAILY BEAST
I have seen a lot of Bolshevik propaganda and it is not very convincing stuff.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
It makes out of the savage raw material which is our basal mental stuff, a citizen.
The Salvaging Of Civilisation|H. G. (Herbert George) Wells
I've got a writ here, Baptiste, and will be glad to have you tell me where this stuff of yours is so I can go and get it.
The Homesteader|Oscar Micheaux
In his youngest days, when his mother used to regulate his food, she would stuff him full of rice.
Our Little Korean Cousin|H. Lee M. Pike
We're right under their noses, so they won't do anything till the stuff's actually in sight.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair

British Dictionary definitions for stuff

stuff

/ (stʌf) /

verb (mainly tr)

to pack or fill completely; cram

(intr) to eat large quantities

to force, shove, or squeezeto stuff money into a pocket

to fill (food such as poultry or tomatoes) with a stuffing

to fill (an animal's skin) with material so as to restore the shape of the live animal

slang to have sexual intercourse with (a woman)

tanning to treat (an animal skin or hide) with grease

US and Canadian to fill (a ballot box) with a large number of fraudulent votes

(in marine transport) to pack (a container)See also stuffing and stripping

slang to ruin, frustrate, or defeat

noun

the raw material or fabric of something

woollen cloth or fabric

any general or unspecified substance or accumulation of objects

stupid or worthless actions, speech, ideas, etc

subject matter, skill, etche knows his stuff

a slang word for money

slang a drug, esp cannabis

British slang a girl or woman considered sexually (esp in the phrase bit of stuff)

do one's stuff informal to do what is expected of one

that's the stuff that is what is needed

Derived forms of stuff

stuffer, noun

Word Origin for stuff

C14: from Old French estoffe, from estoffer to furnish, provide, of Germanic origin; related to Middle High German stopfen to cram full

usage for stuff

Sense 6 of this word was formerly considered to be taboo, and it was labelled as such in previous editions of Collins English Dictionary . However, it has now become acceptable in speech, although some older or more conservative people may object to its use

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Idioms and Phrases with stuff

stuff

In addition to the idioms beginning with stuff

stuff and nonsense
stuffed shirt
stuff it
stuff one's face
stuff the ballot box

also see:

get stuffed
hot number (stuff)
kid stuff
know one's stuff
strut one's stuff

MEANINGS

WORD GAMES

LEARN

WRITING

WORD OF THE DAY

stuff