# fuzz

> English word · Noun · IPA /fʌz/ · frequency rank #26,802

## Definitions
1. A frizzy mass of hair or fibre.
2. Quality of an image that is unclear; a blurred image.
3. The random data used in fuzz testing.
4. A distorted sound, especially from an electric guitar or other amplified instrument.
5. A state of befuddlement.
6. Fuzziness, vagueness.

## Etymology
Uncertain. Some dictionaries suggest a Germanic source; compare Low German fussig (“loose; spongy”), Dutch voos (“unsound; rotten”). Others, such as Webster's New College Dictionary, suggest a back-formation from fuzzy. The Oxford English Dictionary suggests, “Perhaps imitative of the action of blowing away light particles.”

## Easily confused with
- **fuzzy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fuzz-vs-fuzzy)
- **fu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fu-vs-fuzz)
- **fun** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fun-vs-fuzz)
- **fur** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fur-vs-fuzz)
- **fez** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fez-vs-fuzz)
- **fut** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fut-vs-fuzz)
- **full** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/full-vs-fuzz)
- **fuck** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fuck-vs-fuzz)
- **fund** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fund-vs-fuzz)
- **fuel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fuel-vs-fuzz)
- **fury** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fury-vs-fuzz)
- **funk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/funk-vs-fuzz)
- **fuse** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fuse-vs-fuzz)
- **fuss** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fuss-vs-fuzz)
- **fuji** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fuji-vs-fuzz)
- **furs** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/furs-vs-fuzz)
- **fizz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fizz-vs-fuzz)
- **fung** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fung-vs-fuzz)
- **faze** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/faze-vs-fuzz)
- **fume** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/fume-vs-fuzz)

## Common misspellings (4)
`ffuzz`, `fuz`, `fzuz`, `ufzz`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/fuzz