Fumf

noun, verb

noun, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    The sound of rushing air or a dull impact. onomatopoeic

    "I hit the Bruckner Expressway and turned the music up until I could feel the bass in my breastbone. Then I heard the fumf of a blown tire."

Verb
  1. 1
    Synonym of fumfer (“to speak awkwardly or evasively; to fiddle or fumble”). rare

    "'"To me,' Bill says, "Mulcahy is a pretty straight guy who doesn't quite have a handle on everything, and there's a little bit of 'fumfing' [a favorite word of Bill's] and confusion.""

Synonyms

All synonyms

Example

More examples

"'"To me,' Bill says, "Mulcahy is a pretty straight guy who doesn't quite have a handle on everything, and there's a little bit of 'fumfing' [a favorite word of Bill's] and confusion.""

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Yiddish פֿאָנפֿען (fonfen, “to speak with a nasal twang, to mumble”). Compare fumfer.

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.