fudge factor

noun

: an arbitrary mathematical term inserted into a calculation in order to arrive at an expected solution or to allow for errors especially of underestimation

broadly : any arbitrary unspecified factor

Examples of fudge factor in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Over the following decades, scientists built on Kohn and Sham’s work with increasingly clever ways of estimating the fudge factor, and density functionals became the de facto way to understand electrons. — Quanta Magazine, 7 Feb. 2022

This has led to a fudge factor in the literature — guesstimates that 10% of the micrometeoroidal matter sticks to the ice and pollutes it. — Quanta Magazine, 26 Nov. 2019

And the cosmological constant, as a fudge factor that changes how spacetime interacts with energy, is still a leading contender. — Bill Andrews, Discover Magazine, 11 July 2018

The cosmological constant was little more than a fudge factor, to hold the universe still. — Zeeya Merali, Discover Magazine, 16 Apr. 2013

There's a 95% confidence interval which can push the time back to 4,000 years, so there's some fudge factor too. — Razib Khan, Discover Magazine, 5 May 2011

Word History

First Known Use

1934, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for fudge factor

• benefactor
• chiropractor
• malefactor
• multifactor
• subcontractor
• acter
• actor
• tractor
• attractor
• cofactor
• compactor
• contactor