1
: materials, supplies, or equipment used in various activities: such as
a
obsolete
: military baggage
2
: material to be manufactured, wrought, or used in construction
clear half-inch pine stuff—
Emily Holt
Emily Holt3
: 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
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
Ted Williams9
stuffless
adjective
stuffed; stuffing; stuffs
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
Eric Clapton6
: to stop (a ballcarrier) abruptly in a football game
stuffed the runner just short of a first down
Synonyms
Examples of stuff in a Sentence
Noun
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.
Verb
The boy stuffed his pockets with candy.
She stuffed the laundry bag full.
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Recent Examples on the WebSam Burros, Peoplemag, 29 Sep. 2023
Nobody in life can prevent health stuff from happening unexpectedly.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2023
John’s stuff was kind of the intense stuff, and Paul’s stuff was kind of the love song, syrupy kind of stuff.
—Liza Lentini, Spin, 29 Sep. 2023
People will be calling her a serial killer, a genocidal maniac, that kind of stuff.
—Sophia Scorziello, Variety, 28 Sep. 2023
People are getting their holiday shopping done earlier than ever, which means the good stuff will go faster than Santa can hitch up his sleigh.
—Shanna Shipin, Allure, 28 Sep. 2023
Heart breaking, gut wrenching story, people have had enough of this stuff.
—Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2023
By holding these two chemicals in separate cellular compartments, the benzoquinone-producing cells ensure the toxic stuff isn’t produced internally within the cells.
—Viviane Callier, Scientific American, 27 Sep. 2023
It’s been a rough summer for us: Breakups, divorces, job stuff, kid issues and parent issues.
—USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2023
Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 29 Sep. 2023
Groups of teenagers and young adults swarmed into stores, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing.
—Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2023
Jack started stuffing his face with a pepper that averages 1.64 million Scoville heat units, more than 200 times the humble jalapeño.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2023
The researchers discovered the trilobite’s nearly intact gut—the first of its kind in the fossil record—stuffed with the shelly remnants of an ancient seafood feast, revealing that B. incola was not a picky eater.
—Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American, 28 Sep. 2023
In addition to singling out the Buy Box, the FTC complaint also accuses Amazon of degrading shoppers’ experience by stuffing search results with junk ads, essentially forcing sellers to buy search ads, and skewing search results in favor of its own listings.
—WIRED, 26 Sep. 2023
And the new May December trailer is stuffed with discomfort and wickedly intriguing melodrama.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2023
The Creator, an admirably ambitious endeavor, stuffed with imposing visuals, impressive design work and nifty tech hardware.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Sep. 2023
Peltola said the legislation had been stuffed with right-wing social provisions and infrastructure funding rollbacks.
—Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Sep. 2023
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Noun
People were picking up the alligator, petting it, all sorts of stuff.
—Sam Burros, Peoplemag, 29 Sep. 2023
Nobody in life can prevent health stuff from happening unexpectedly.
—Bill Plaschke, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2023
John’s stuff was kind of the intense stuff, and Paul’s stuff was kind of the love song, syrupy kind of stuff.
—Liza Lentini, Spin, 29 Sep. 2023
People will be calling her a serial killer, a genocidal maniac, that kind of stuff.
—Sophia Scorziello, Variety, 28 Sep. 2023
People are getting their holiday shopping done earlier than ever, which means the good stuff will go faster than Santa can hitch up his sleigh.
—Shanna Shipin, Allure, 28 Sep. 2023
Heart breaking, gut wrenching story, people have had enough of this stuff.
—Timothy Bella, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2023
By holding these two chemicals in separate cellular compartments, the benzoquinone-producing cells ensure the toxic stuff isn’t produced internally within the cells.
—Viviane Callier, Scientific American, 27 Sep. 2023
It’s been a rough summer for us: Breakups, divorces, job stuff, kid issues and parent issues.
—USA TODAY, 8 Sep. 2023
Verb
Diana was found with a sock stuffed in her mouth in a Philadelphia hotel room on Monday evening, PEOPLE reported previously.
—Samira Asma-Sadeque, Peoplemag, 29 Sep. 2023
Groups of teenagers and young adults swarmed into stores, stuffing plastic bags with merchandise and fleeing.
—Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 29 Sep. 2023
Jack started stuffing his face with a pepper that averages 1.64 million Scoville heat units, more than 200 times the humble jalapeño.
—Jonathan Edwards, Washington Post, 29 Sep. 2023
The researchers discovered the trilobite’s nearly intact gut—the first of its kind in the fossil record—stuffed with the shelly remnants of an ancient seafood feast, revealing that B. incola was not a picky eater.
—Jack Tamisiea, Scientific American, 28 Sep. 2023
In addition to singling out the Buy Box, the FTC complaint also accuses Amazon of degrading shoppers’ experience by stuffing search results with junk ads, essentially forcing sellers to buy search ads, and skewing search results in favor of its own listings.
—WIRED, 26 Sep. 2023
And the new May December trailer is stuffed with discomfort and wickedly intriguing melodrama.
—Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 26 Sep. 2023
The Creator, an admirably ambitious endeavor, stuffed with imposing visuals, impressive design work and nifty tech hardware.
—David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 26 Sep. 2023
Peltola said the legislation had been stuffed with right-wing social provisions and infrastructure funding rollbacks.
—Iris Samuels, Anchorage Daily News, 9 Sep. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'stuff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Etymology
Noun
Middle English stuff, stuffe "military supplies, provisions, household goods, building material, fabric, filling of a pastry," borrowed from Anglo-French estuffe "provision, stock," noun derivative of estuffer, estoffer "to furnish (with supplies, arms), fill" — more at stuff entry 2
Verb
Middle English stuffen, stoffen "to furnish, equip (with arms, provisions), fill, cram full," borrowed from Anglo-French estuffer, estoffer (also continental Old French), probably borrowed from Old High German stophōn "put (something into something), cram full," going back to West Germanic *stoppōjan-, whence also Old English -stoppian, in forstoppian "to stop up, close completely" — more at stop entry 1
First Known Use
Noun
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Time Traveler
The first known use of stuff was
in the 14th century
Phrases Containing stuff
Dictionary Entries Near stuff
Cite this Entry
“Stuff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stuff. Accessed 4 Oct. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
stuff
1 of 2 noun1
: supplies or equipment that people need or use
2
: writing, conversation, or ideas often of little or temporary worth
3
: something mentioned or understood but not named
sold tons of the stuff
4
a
: basic part of something : substance
the stuff of greatness
b
: body of knowledge
teachers who know their stuff
5
a
: actions or talk of a particular kind
how do they get away with such stuff
b
: special knowledge or ability
a person who has the right stuff will do well here
stuff
2 of 2 verb1
a
: to fill by or as if by packing things in
was stuffing her pockets with candy
b
: to eat too much
don't stuff yourself with pizza
c
: to fill with a stuffing
stuffed the pillow
2
: to fill with ideas or information
stuffed their heads with facts
3
: to fill or block up
a sore throat and stuffed nose
4
: to put or push into something especially carelessly or with little concern
stuffed the clothes into the drawer
stuffer
noun
Medical Definition
stuff
transitive verb
: to choke or block up (as nasal passages)
a stuffed up nose
More from Merriam-Webster on stuff
Nglish: Translation of stuff for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of stuff for Arabic Speakers
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
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