Fuss Meaning
/fʌs/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
nounExcessive activity, worry, bother, or talk about something.
nounA complaint or noise; a scene.
Sentence Examples
What trifles are you making a great fuss about?
Stop making a fuss over nothing.
CEFR Practice Quiz
She made a big ____ about the small mistake, causing unnecessary drama.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please don't make such a ____ about the minor mistake it can be easily fixed within minutes.
Word Origin & History
Of unknown origin. Perhaps from Danish fjas (“nonsense”), from Middle Low German (compare German faseln (“to maunder, talk nonsense”)). Compare also fouse (“to hasten, rush, tumble, disarrange”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"Sickness did not last above a ten days; my poor wife zealously assiduous, and with a minimum of fuss or noise."
— 1866 (date written), Thomas Carlyle, “Jane Welsh Carlyle”, in James Anthony Froude, editor, Reminiscences, volume II, London: Longmans, Green, and Co., published 1881, →OCLC, page 158:
"“Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke[…]whom the papers are making such a fuss about.”"
— 1935, George Goodchild, chapter 1, in Death on the Centre Court:
"But in the reader comments section beneath the FT piece, many couldn’t understand what all the fuss was about. “I’m surprised to see the FT reporting this sort of thing,” one person wrote."
— 2018 January 25, Amelia Gentleman, “Men-only clubs and menace: how the establishment maintains male power”, in the Guardian:
"Dear reader, spare me. I don't hate men, I love them; I eat 'em for breakfast. But it seems to me that fussing about masculinity is intimately related to homophobia."
— 1984 December 29, Duncan Mitchel, “The Cult of Gay Machismo”, in Gay Community News, volume 12, number 25, page 9:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
She made a big ____ about the small mistake, causing unnecessary drama.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please don't make such a ____ about the minor mistake it can be easily fixed within minutes.