Fumfer

//ˈfəmfər// verb, slang

verb, slang ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To speak awkwardly or evasively; to dither, waffle. US, informal

    "She fumfered around and refused to give a straight answer."

  2. 2
    To fiddle or fumble. US, informal

    "I fumfered with the USB stick, trying and failing to plug it in."

Example

More examples

"She fumfered around and refused to give a straight answer."

Etymology

Borrowed from Yiddish פֿאָנפֿען (fonfen, “to speak with a nasal twang, to mumble”) + -er (frequentative suffix). First attested in 1954. Compare fumf.

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