Slang dictionary
fugazi
or fugazy
What does fugazi mean?
Fugazi can be used to describe a situation as “fucked up” or to describe an item as fake.
Where does fugazi come from?
Examples of fugazi
Who uses fugazi?
Fugazi in the sense of “fucked up” is used in reference to the Vietnam war, but not much elsewhere.
Fugazy or fugazi in the sense of “fake” is strongly associated with Italian communities in New York and New Jersey, but has also been more widely adopted through the popularity of the movie Donnie Brasco and through hip-hop.
In addition to functioning as an adjective and noun, fugazi/fugazy sometimes serves as a verb for “mess up.”
Note
This is not meant to be a formal definition of fugazi like most terms we define on Dictionary.com, but is rather an informal word summary that hopefully touches upon the key aspects of the meaning and usage of fugazi that will help our users expand their word mastery.