Stuff

/stʌf/ · noun

Meaning

(informal) Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects..

Definitions by Sense

1. (informal) Miscellaneous items or objects; (with possessive) personal effects.
2. (informal) Unspecified things or matters.
3. The tangible substance that goes into the makeup of a physical object.
4. (informal) Used as placeholder, usually for material of unknown type or name.
5. (slang) Narcotic drugs, especially heroin.
6. (obsolete) A medicine or mixture; a potion.
7. (sometimes euphemistic) Refuse or worthless matter; hence, also, foolish or irrational language.
8. (nautical) A melted mass of turpentine, tallow, etc., with which the masts, sides, and bottom of a ship are smeared for lubrication.

Example Sentences

What is all that stuff on your bedroom floor? He didn't want his pockets to bulge so he was walking around with all his stuff in his hands.

The Bat—they called him the Bat.[…]. He'd never been in stir, the bulls had never mugged him, he didn't run with a mob, he played a lone hand, and fenced his stuff so that even the fence couldn't swear he knew his face.

I had to do some stuff.

Near-synonyms: constituents, ingredients; see also Thesaurus:substance

The workman on his stuff his skill doth show, / And yet the stuff gives not the man his skill.

Pound an onion, warm a spoonful of ghee and throw in the onion, brown it slightly, add your curry stuff, brown this till it smells pleasantly, […]

Can I have some of that stuff on my ice-cream sundae?

It had been his intention to go to Wimbledon, but as he himself said: “Why be blooming well frizzled when you can hear all the results over the wireless.[…]You stand by, Janet, and wake me up if they do any of that running commentary stuff.”

Synonyms for stuff

Antonyms for stuff

Related Words

Word Forms

• stuffs
• stuffing
• stuffed

Usage Notes

Choose a synonym only when it preserves the intended meaning, tone, and grammar of the full sentence.

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