stuff

noun \ ˈstəf \

|Updated on: 7 Jul 2018

Examples: stuff in a Sentence

1 : materials, supplies, or equipment used in various activities: such as

a obsolete : military baggage

b : personal property

2 : material to be manufactured, wrought, or used in construction

clear half-inch pine stuff
—Emily Holt

3 : a finished textile suitable for clothing; especially : wool or worsted material

4 a : literary or artistic production

b : writing, discourse, talk, or ideas of little value : trash

5 a : an unspecified material substance or aggregate of matter

volcanic rock is curious stuff

b : something (as a drug or food) consumed or introduced into the body by humans

c : a matter to be considered

the truth was heady stuff

long-term policy stuff

d : a group or scattering of miscellaneous objects or articles

pick that stuff up off the floor

; also : nonphysical unspecified material

conservation and … all kinds of good stuff
—Eric Korn

6 a : fundamental material : substance

the stuff of greatness

b : subject matter

a teacher who knows her stuff

7 : special knowledge or capability

showing their stuff

8 a : spin imparted to a thrown or hit ball to make it curve or change course

b : the movement of a baseball pitch out of its apparent line of flight : the liveliness of a pitch

greatest pitcher of my time … had tremendous stuff
—Ted Williams

9 : dunk shot

—

stuffless

adjective

See stuff defined for English-language learners

See stuff defined for kids

Examples of stuff in a Sentence

She got out the cooking stuff to bake some cookies.
computers, word processors, and stuff like that
I need a place to store my stuff.
Pick that stuff up off the floor.

Recent Examples of stuff from the Web

That latter standout, needless to say, was President Trump, who decided long ago that making stuff up is easier and more self-serving than sticking to facts.

— david lazarus, latimes.com, "Bezos bets $1 billion on the future of healthcare as Trump tells the same old lies," 3 July 2018
In short, Beyoncé’s hair is basically the stuff quickie bun dreams are made of.

— avery matera, Teen Vogue, "Beyoncé Wears Summer Topknot Hairstyle on Instagram," 2 July 2018
The brain’s response to caloric restriction tends to be to increase cravings for foods that are highly rewarding (delicious stuff that’s some combination of sweet, fatty, and salty) and reducing our perception of being full.

— kevin klatt, SELF, "Why Weight Loss Diets Fail," 26 June 2018
Jodie was the mouthpiece for conversations about race and Black womanhood in a show for teenagers, which is pretty groundbreaking stuff.

— cady drell, Marie Claire, "9 'Daria' Details I'm Praying to See in MTV's Reboot," 22 June 2018
Benjamin Franklin’s famous wet-kite experiment demonstrated that ordinary static electricity was the same stuff as lightning by capturing its charges in Leyden jars, primitive batteries.

— charles r. morris, WSJ, "‘Energy’ Review: The Path to Power," 21 June 2018
Adams would go on to great acclaim on his own, but his mercurial days in Whiskeytown are the stuff of legend.

— Houston Chronicle, "Must List: Nate Bargatze with the laughs, Housto Slab cars with the swangas," 20 June 2018
Hot time: Any evening performance, but Saturdays are always a fabulous show with plenty of classic older performers strutting their stuff.

— emma silvers, San Francisco Chronicle, "Your guide to the best bars to hit on Pride weekend," 14 June 2018
Consumer-focused stuff was less prominent, but included things like motorcycles and mopeds, as well as LEDs for backlighting of LCD TVs.

— adam shell, USA TODAY, "Trade Wars: What 401(k) investors, consumers need to know," 19 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'stuff.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of stuff

Middle English, from Anglo-French estuffes goods, from estuffer to fill in (with rubble), furnish, equip, of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German stopfōn to stop up, from Vulgar Latin *stuppare — more at stop

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

stuff Synonyms

Synonyms

capability, credentials, goods, qualification;

ability, capacity, competence, competency, facility, faculty;

aptitude, endowment, flair, genius, gift, knack, talent;

forte, long suit, métier (also metier), specialty, strong suit;

fitness, suitability, suitableness;

makings, potentiality;

stuff

verb

stuffed; stuffing; stuffs

transitive verb

1 a : to fill by packing things in : cram

the boy stuffed his pockets with candy

b : to fill to satiety : surfeit

stuffed themselves with turkey

c : to prepare (meat or vegetables) by filling or lining with a stuffing

d : to fill (something, such as a cushion) with a soft material

e : to fill out the skin of (an animal) for mounting

2 a : to fill by intellectual effort

stuffing their heads with facts

b : to pack full of something immaterial

a book stuffed with information

3 : to fill or block up (something, such as nasal passages)

4 a : to cause to enter or fill : thrust

stuffed a lot of clothing into a laundry bag

b : to put (a ball, a puck, etc.) into a goal forcefully from close range

5 —used in the imperative to express contempt

if they didn't like it, stuff 'em
—Eric Clapton

—often used in the phrases stuff it and get stuffed

6 : to stop (a ballcarrier) abruptly in a football game

stuffed the runner just short of a first down

See stuff defined for English-language learners

Examples of stuff in a Sentence

The boy stuffed his pockets with candy.
She stuffed the laundry bag full.

Recent Examples of stuff from the Web

With prices mostly in the two or three figures, her studded leather jackets and slinky slip dresses look not unlike what stuffs the racks at H&M and Forever 21.

— sheila marikar, New York Times, "How to Make an American Fashion Brand (No Sewing Required!)," 26 Aug. 2017
Instead, the avocado was simply halved, then stuffed with a corn salad consisting of corn, tomatoes, cilantro, peppers, and lime vinaigrette.

— birmingham magazine, AL.com, "Birmingham Restaurant Week Review: Lunch at Bottega Cafe," 15 Aug. 2017
Airport officials say the toilet had been stuffed with paper towels, and the airline affected, Southwest, offered replacement bags to some customers.

— miamiherald, "One overflowing toilet delayed thousands of people traveling to Florida," 9 Aug. 2017
Mr. Holmes Bakehouse and Smitten Ice Cream have teamed up to blow your mind this weekend, when the former’s signature croissant/muffin hybrids will be stuffed with Smitten flavors.

— marielle wakim, Los Angeles Magazine, "The 5 Best Things to Do in L.A. This Weekend," 28 July 2017
One major favorite was The Fifth Element, Luc Besson’s 1997 masterpiece, a sci-fi/action wonderment stuffed full of oddball style and weirdo Euro humor.

— richard lawson, vanityfair.com, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Is an Endearing, Eye-Popping Mess," 18 July 2017
One major favorite was The Fifth Element, Luc Besson’s 1997 masterpiece, a sci-fi/action wonderment stuffed full of oddball style and weirdo Euro humor.

— richard lawson, HWD, "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets Is an Endearing, Eye-Popping Mess," 18 July 2017
THE factory of the future will be a building stuffed full of robots making robots.

— The Economist, "The Gemini makersMillions of things will soon have digital twins," 13 July 2017
Some products that could be coming soon to your favorite food retailer: Mini bagels shaped almost like tennis balls, cheesecake stuffed inside ice cream-style cones and a delicately flavored beverage derived from unroasted coffee beans.

— charles passy, WSJ, "Cricket Bars, Anyone? Quirky Foods Take Center Stage at Gourmet Trade Show," 26 June 2017

First Known Use of stuff

15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1a

See Words from the same year

NEW! Time Traveler

stuff Synonyms

STUFF Defined for English Language Learners

stuff

noun

: materials, supplies, or equipment
: a group or pile of things that are not specifically described
—used to speak in a general way about something that is talked about, written about, etc.