fluff

Etymology

From earlier floow (“woolly substance, down, nap, lint”), also spelt flough, flue, and flew, from West Flemish vluwe, of uncertain ultimate origin: * Compare Old English flōh (“that which is flown off, fragment, piece”) - see flaw * Possibly representing a blend of flue + puff; compare Middle Dutch vloe, or perhaps onomatopoeic; compare dialectal English floose, flooze, fleeze (“particles of wool or cotton; fluff; loose threads or fibres”), Danish fnug (“down, fluff”), Swedish fnugg (“speck, flake”). * Alternatively, West Flemish vluwe may derive from French velu (“hairy, furry”), ultimately from Latin villus (“shaggy hair, tuft of hair”). For words of similar sound and meaning in other languages, compare Japanese フワフワ (fuwafuwa, “lightly, softly”), Hungarian puha (“soft, fluffy”), Polish puchaty (“soft, fluffy”).

noun

1. Anything light, soft or fuzzy, especially fur, hair, feathers.
2. Anything inconsequential or superficial.
   That article was basically a bunch of fluff. It didn't say anything substantive.
3. (informal) A lapse or mistake, especially a mistake in an actor's lines.
4. (New England) Marshmallow creme.
   That New England-style salami and fluff sandwich sure hit the spot!
5. (LGBT) A passive partner in a lesbian relationship.
6. (Australia, New Zealand, euphemistic) A fart.
7. (fandom slang) Fan fiction, or part of a fan fiction, which is sweet and feel-good in tone, usually involving romance.
   And when something triggers, I can close the window and go read fluff for hours until I calm down. 2011, anonymous, quoted in Katherine Larsen & Lynn Zubernis, Fandom at the Crossroads: Celebration, Shame and Fan/producer Relationships, page 138
   Fans prefer fluff to other types of fic. But angst (dramatic stories where characters have a wide range of emotions, including...angsty ones) comes in close second. 2017, "Flourish Kink", quoted in Ashley J. Barner, The Case for Fanfiction: Exploring the Pleasures and Practices of a Maligned Craft, page 67
   Ah, fluff. My happy place. These fics are dedicated to feel-good feelings, which are the very best type of feelings. 2017, Carrie DiRisio, Brooding YA Hero: Becoming a Main Character (Almost) as Awesome as Me, unnumbered page
8. (UK, roleplaying games) A form of roleplaying which is inconsequential and not related to the plot; often used in the context of (but not limited to) filling time.

verb

1. (transitive) To make something fluffy.
   The cat fluffed its tail.
2. (intransitive) To become fluffy, puff up.
3. (intransitive) To move lightly like fluff.
   She gave the music-stool a twirl or two and fluffed down on to it like a whirl of soap-suds in a hand-basin. 1872, Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr., The Poet at the Breakfast-Table
4. (informal, transitive, intransitive, of an actor or announcer) To make a mistake in one's lines.
5. (informal, transitive) To do incorrectly, for example mishit, miskick, miscue etc.
   Either side of Rooney's fluffed chance, it was a tale of Ukrainian domination as they attacked England down both flanks and showed the greater fluidity of the teams. June 19, 2012, Phil McNulty, “England 1-0 Ukraine”, in BBC Sport
6. (intransitive, Australia, euphemistic) To break wind, to fart.
7. (transitive, slang) To arouse (a male pornographic actor) before filming.
   To get Lance Bronson hard, Chi Chi, in desperation, called Sharon Kane to come and fluff him on the set. People were always asking me how they could get a job as a fluffer. 2008, Blue Blake, Out of the Blue: Confessions of an Unlikely Porn Star, page 187