fuss
pronunciation
How to pronounce fuss in British English:
UK [fʌs]
How to pronounce fuss in American English:
US [fʌs]
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- Noun:
- an excited state of agitation
- an angry disturbance
- a quarrel about petty points
- a rapid bustling commotion
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- Verb:
- worry unnecessarily or excessively
- care for like a mother
Word Origin
- fuss
- fuss: [18] The early use of fuss by Irish-born writers such as Jonathan Swift and George Farquhar has led to the supposition that it is of Anglo-Irish origin, but no substantiation for this has ever been found on the other side of the Irish Sea. Among suggestions as to how it came into being have been that it was an alteration of force, as in the now obsolete phrase make no force of ‘not bother about’, and that it was simply onomatopoeic, imitating the sound of someone puffing and blowing and making a fuss.
- fuss (n.)
- "trifling bustle," 1701, originally colloquial, perhaps an alteration of force (n.), or "echoic of the sound of something sputtering or bubbling" [OED], or from Danish fjas "foolery, nonsense." First attested in Anglo-Irish writers, but there are no obvious connections to words in Irish. To make a fuss was earlier to keep a fuss (1726). Fuss and feathers "bustle and display" is from 1848, American English, suggestive of a game cock or a peacock, originally of U.S. Army Gen. Winfield Scott (1786-1866) in the Mexican war. Gen. Scott is said to be as particular in matters of etiquette and dress as Gen. Taylor is careless. The soldiers call one "Old Rough and Ready," and the other "Old Fuss and Feathers." ["The Mammoth," Nov. 15, 1848].
- fuss (v.)
- 1792, from fuss (n.). Related: Fussed; fussing. Extended form fussify is by 1832.
Example
- 1. What 's all the fuss over a little election ?
- 2. The fuss prompted china daily , an official english-language newspaper , to publish a long piece today on patriotism and globalisation .
- 3. Such a major engineering project will certainly cause a lot of disruption and fuss .
- 4. It worked : his resignation generated enough fuss to force the constitutional court to annul mr reyes 's appointment .
- 5. For all the fuss about britain , the main failure in brussels was to draw up a plan to save the euro .