fugazi

/fuˈɡɑːzi/

//fuˈɡɑːzi// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"fugazi" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fugazi” is uncommon English (frequency #86,296 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#86,296
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Fucked up; broken, damaged beyond repair.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fugazi · fugazi · English

fugazi · rank #86,296 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #86,296
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH fuckboy

Nearest frequency peer: fuckboy (-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 “fugazi”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “fugazi” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for fugazi
PropertyValue
Headwordfugazi
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/fuˈɡɑːzi/
Letters6
Frequency rank#86,296
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “fugazi” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).fugazifalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “fuckboy” (#86,295), “frontside” (#86,294), “gapes” (#86,301). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “fugazi” is #86,296. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fugazi is uncommon English at frequency #86,296 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /fuˈɡɑːzi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Fucked up; broken, damaged beyond repair.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for fugazi in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Origin unknown; a number of possibilities have been suggested: * One theory is that it is a corruption of French fougasse (“type of land mine”); flame fougasses were used extensively in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. * Less plausibly, it might be from English… The correct English form is fugazi, spelled F-U-G-A-Z-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fucked up; broken, damaged beyond repair.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fugazi appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The two of them were getting bombed on bami-bam, beer, and joints laced with opium. That made answers to questions a long time in coming. "Hey, man, what the fuck can I tell you," said Robbie finally. "All fugazi over here. All fucked up. Number ten. The worst. Don't matter what goes down in this asshole country, know what I mean? Hey, papa-san, don't bel…
  2. We didn't know anything was fugazi* until we got to a certain place in the South China Sea. A loudspeaker came over the air, "This is your captain speaking. Be advised that your destination is Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam."

Etymology

Origin unknown; a number of possibilities have been suggested: * One theory is that it is a corruption of French fougasse (“type of land mine”); flame fougasses were used extensively in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. * Less plausibly, it might be from English fugacious (“fleeting”) or cognates such as Italian fugace (“fleeting”). * It has also been suggested that it could be an acronym of “fucked up, got ambushed, zipped in [a body bag]”, but this is more likely a backronym, not the origin (compare FUBAR).

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

How do you spell "fugazi"?
"fugazi" is spelled F-U-G-A-Z-I. The IPA pronunciation is /fuˈɡɑːzi/.
What does "fugazi" mean?
As an adjective, "fugazi" means: Fucked up; broken, damaged beyond repair.
How do you pronounce "fugazi"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fugazi" is /fuˈɡɑːzi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "fugazi"?
Origin unknown; a number of possibilities have been suggested: * One theory is that it is a corruption of French fougasse (“type of land mine”); flame fougasses were used extensively in the Korean and Vietnam Wars. * Less plausibly, it might be fr... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "fugazi", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

gapped#86,302garçon#86,304foaled#86,284firman#86,279

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list