fug
/fʌɡ/
"fug" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fug” is uncommon English (frequency #71,517 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #71,517
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A heavy, musty, stuffy or unpleasant atmosphere, usually in a poorly-ventilated area.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fug · fug · English
fug · rank #71,517 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #71,517
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH Fuzhou
Nearest frequency peer: Fuzhou (+1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “fug”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Francisca
Francisca
28,489 corpus weight
- Frederica
Frederica
28,487 corpus weight
- fug
fug
28,484 corpus weight
- Fuzhou
Fuzhou
28,483 corpus weight
- gainfully
gainfully
28,481 corpus weight
- Gansu
Gansu
28,480 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “fug” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fug |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /fʌɡ/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #71,517 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “fug” in English
Rare enough to double-check
fug is uncommon English at frequency #71,517 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /fʌɡ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
fug doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unknown. Compare British slang fogo (“stench”) and English fog, or possibly a blend of funk + fog. The correct English form is fug, spelled F-U-G.
Definition
- 1A heavy, musty, stuffy or unpleasant atmosphere, usually in a poorly-ventilated area.
- 2A state of lethargy and confusion; daze.
- 3A state of chaos or confusion.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fug appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
'Made one quite thankful to get back to the fug, though as a rule I think the way these trains are overheated is something scandalous'.
On certain days, when hot currents shimmered off Oyster's Reef, we would detect the chalk-dust of the mullock heaps, acrid; or, from the opal mines themselves, the ghastly fug of the tunnels and shafts.
Etymology
Unknown. Compare British slang fogo (“stench”) and English fog, or possibly a blend of funk + fog.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fug", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).