Dictionary

fee-faw-fum en · INTJ

Meanings

1. A nonsensical exclamation attributed to giants and ogres.
   • Fee-Faw-Fum!—— I ſmell the Blood of an Engliſh-Man; Whether he be alive or dead, I'll grind his Bones to make my Bread. 1734, Dick Merryman [pseudonym; unknown], “CHAP IV. […] the Story of Jack Spriggins and the Enchanted Bean […] ”, in Round about our Coal Fire: or, Chriſtmas Entertainments., 4th edition, London: J. Roberts, page 45:

Synonyms

fee-fi-fo-fum

Translations (5)

gd hì hò hù huagaich (exclamation attributed to giants and ogres) · gd hì hua huagaich (exclamation attributed to giants and ogres) · it ucci-ucci (exclamation attributed to giants and ogres) · ru фу-фу (exclamation attributed to giants and ogres) · gd fiù fomha fomhagraich (exclamation attributed to giants and ogres)

fee-faw-fum en · NOUN

Meanings

1. A nonsensical exclamation attributed to giants and ogres.
   • The kindly fee-faw-fums of childhood, how many delicious shivers we owe them; the Things that stood behind doors, that trooped into the church when the congregation went out, that lurked in closet corners and under the bed […] 1908, The Atlantic Monthly, volume 102, page 823:
2. (archaic, broadly) Any expression calculated to impose upon the timid and ignorant.
   • J. H. Newman impudent fee-faw-fums
   • One of the most successful fee-faw-fums worked off on the prospective patients of mine for the past twenty-five years has been: “If you go to Tilden, he will starve you to death.” 1921, J. H. Tilden, Food: Its Influence As a Factor in Disease and Health, page 153:

Forms