Adjacent Words

Fuss definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

FUSS, n. [allied perhaps to Gr. to blow or puff.]
A tumult; a bustle; but the word is vulgar.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: an excited state of agitation; "he was in a dither"; "there was a terrible flap about the theft" [syn: dither, pother, fuss, tizzy, flap]
2: an angry disturbance; "he didn't want to make a fuss"; "they had labor trouble"; "a spot of bother" [syn: fuss, trouble, bother, hassle]
3: a quarrel about petty points [syn: bicker, bickering, spat, tiff, squabble, pettifoggery, fuss]
4: a rapid active commotion [syn: bustle, hustle, flurry, ado, fuss, stir] v
1: worry unnecessarily or excessively; "don't fuss too much over the grandchildren--they are quite big now" [syn: fuss, niggle, fret]
2: care for like a mother; "She fusses over her husband" [syn: mother, fuss, overprotect]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Etymology: origin unknown Date: 1701 1. a. needless bustle or excitement b. a show of flattering attention <made a big fuss over his favorite niece> 2. a. a state of agitation especially over a trivial matter b. objection, protest c. an often petty controversy or quarrel II. verb Date: 1792 intransitive verb 1. a. to create or be in a state of restless activity; especially to shower flattering attentions <fussing over the grandchildren> b. to pay close or undue attention to small details <fussed with her hair> 2. a. to become upset ; worry b. to express annoyance or pique ; complain transitive verb agitate, upset • fusser noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 excited commotion, bustle, ostentatious or nervous activity. 2 a excessive concern about a trivial thing. b abundance of petty detail. 3 a sustained protest or dispute. 4 a person who fusses. --v. 1 intr. a make a fuss. b busy oneself restlessly with trivial things. c (often foll. by about, up and down) move fussily. 2 tr. agitate, worry. Phrases and idioms: make a fuss complain vigorously. make a fuss of (or over) treat (a person or animal) with great or excessive attention. Derivatives: fusser n. Etymology: 18th c.: perh. Anglo-Ir.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fuss Fuss, n. [Cf. Fusome.] 1. A tumult; a bustle; unnecessary or annoying ado about trifles. --Byron. Zealously, assiduously, and with a minimum of fuss or noise --Carlyle. 2. One who is unduly anxious about trifles. [R.] I am a fuss and I don't deny it. --W. D. Howell.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Fuss Fuss, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Fussed; p. pr. & vb. n. Fussing.] To be overbusy or unduly anxious about trifles; to make a bustle or ado. --Sir W. Scott.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(fusses, fussing, fussed) 1. Fuss is anxious or excited behaviour which serves no useful purpose. I don't know what all the fuss is about... He just gets down to work without any fuss. N-SING: also no det 2. If you fuss, you worry or behave in a nervous, anxious way about unimportant matters or rush around doing unnecessary things. Carol fussed about getting me a drink... My wife was fussing over the food and clothing we were going to take... A team of waiters began fussing around the table... 'Stop fussing,' he snapped. VERB: V about, V over n, V prep, V 3. If you fuss over someone, you pay them a lot of attention and do things to make them happy or comfortable. Auntie Hilda and Uncle Jack couldn't fuss over them enough. VERB: V over n 4. If you make a fuss or kick up a fuss about something, you become angry or excited about it and complain. (INFORMAL) I kick up a fuss if my wife wants to spend time alone. PHRASE: V inflects 5. If you make a fuss of someone, you pay them a lot of attention and do things to make them happy or comfortable. (BRIT) When I arrived my nephews made a big fuss of me. PHRASE: V inflects, PHR n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. n. Ado, bustle, fidget, hurry, worry, flurry, stir, excitement, agitation, to-do, pucker (colloq.), much ado about trifles or about nothing. II. v. n. 1. Bustle, be in a fidget, make much ado about trifles or about nothing, be in a stew or pucker (colloq.). 2. Fume, fret, worry.

1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue

A confusion, a hurry, an unnecessary to do about trifles.

Moby Thesaurus

addle, addle the wits, ado, agitate, agitation, air a grievance, altercation, argument, ball up, becloud, bedazzle, beef, befuddle, bellyache, bewilder, bicker, bickering, bitch, bleat, blood feud, blow off, bluff, bluster, bluster and bluff, blustering, boastfulness, bobbery, boil, boiling, bother, botheration, bravado, bravery, brawl, broil, brouhaha, bug, bullying, burn to, burst, bustle, buzz about, cacophony, carp at, chafe, chaos, chiffon, churn, clamor, clinquant, cloud, coil, commotion, complain, confuse, contention, controversy, conturbation, crab, croak, daze, dazzle, discombobulate, discomfit, discompose, discomposure, disconcert, disdain, disorder, disorganize, disorient, dispute, disquiet, disquietude, disturb, disturbance, dither, donnybrook, donnybrook fair, dustup, ebullition, electrify, embarrass, embroilment, entangle, excitement, falling-out, fanaticism, fanfaronade, feery-fary, ferment, fermentation, festoons, feud, fever, feverishness, fidgetiness, fidgets, fight, finery, fit, flap, fliting, flummox, flurry, fluster, flusteration, flustration, flutter, flutteration, flutteriness, fog, folderol, foment, fomentation, foofaraw, fracas, free-for-all, frenzy, fret, fret and fume, fret at, frilliness, frilling, frills, frills and furbelows, frippery, froufrou, fuddle, fuddy-duddy, fume, furor, furore, fury, fuss at, fuss-budget, fusser, fussiness, fusspot, gaiety, gaudery, get excited, gilding, gilt, gingerbread, granny, gripe, groan, grouch, grouse, growl, grumble, grunt, hardly wait, hassle, haste, hasten, hectoring, helter-skelter, henpeck, holler, howl, hubbub, hullabaloo, hurly-burly, hurrah, hurry, hurry about, imbroglio, inquietude, intimidation, itch to, jar, jitters, jolt, jump the gun, jumpiness, kick, lather, lodge a complaint, logomachy, maelstrom, make a fuss, malaise, maze, melee, miff, mist, mix up, moider, moil, muddle, murmur, mutter, nag, nerviness, nervosity, nervousness, nibble at, old maid, old woman, open quarrel, pandemonium, passion, paste, peck at, pell-mell, perplex, perturb, perturbation, pester, pick and choose, pick at, pick on, pinchbeck, polemic, pother, pucker, put out, quarrel, racket, rage, raise a howl, raise hell, rampage, rant, rattle, register a complaint, repine, restlessness, riot, rock, rodomontade, roil, rough-and-tumble, roughhouse, rout, row, ruckus, ruction, ruffle, rumpus, rush about, rush around, scorn, scramble, seethe, seething, shake, shake up, sharp words, shindig, shindy, shock, side, slanging match, snarl, spasm, spat, speed, splutter, spurn, spurt, sputter, squabble, squawk, squirm, stagger, stew, stink, stir, storminess, strife, superfluity, swagger, swashbucklery, sweat, sweat and stew, sweat it out, swirl, swivet, take on, tear around, tempestuousness, throw into confusion, tiff, tinsel, tizzy, to-do, trappings, trepidation, trepidity, trickery, trouble, trumpery, tumult, tumultuation, tumultuousness, turbidity, turbulence, turmoil, tussle, twitter, twitteration, unease, unquiet, unrest, unsettle, uproar, upset, vendetta, vortex, wail, wait impatiently, whine, whirl, whirlpool, whirlwind, whiz about, wildness, words, worry, wrangle, yammer, yap, yap at, yawp, yelp, zeal, zealousness