noun / verb
fug
FUG/fʌɡ/
Stale, stuffy air confined in a room.
The room's fug leaves both occupants hot and uncomfortable.
Etymology
The source records fug as originally dialect and school slang for a thick, close, stuffy atmosphere. It gives no deeper origin connecting the word’s form to that meaning.
In context
A confusing fug of smoke, spice, meat, mildew, and human sweat that you'll never truly scrub from your clothes or your skin.
More examples
- Opening a window clears the fug from the crowded room.
- Wet coats and poor ventilation fug up the entryway.
- We step outside to escape the warm fug of the kitchen.
Forms
fug · fugs · fugged · fugging
fuggy adjective — Filled with warm, stale, stuffy air.
Similar words
- stuffiness
- Names the uncomfortable condition rather than the stale air itself.
- staleness
- Emphasizes a lack of freshness, not necessarily warmth or stuffiness.