Probably a variant of fadge (“to fit”), the confectionery sense having evolved from the meaning of “merging together” or “turning out as expected”.
Meanings
(colloquial, qualifier:minced oath) Used in place of fuck.
Fudge! if you had such a fine instinct, why did you let us go to Transome Court and make fools of ourselves? 1866, George Eliot, Felix Holt:
Pearl had to go home. Mike was one of the last of the good guys, so he said he'd run her on home. All Robert could say was, "Ah, fudge." 1966, Bruce Brown, director, The Endless Summer:
Sabrina was no longer in the witch’s grasp; in fact, she was staring directly at the woman’s crusty, corny feet. Fudge, I made her a giant, Sabrina thought to herself […] 2006, Michael Buckley, chapter 9, in The Problem Child (The Sisters Grimm; 3), New York, N.Y.: Amulet Books, →ISBN, page 235:
(archaic, colloquial) Nonsense; tommyrot.
Oh, fudge! Don't lecture me. 1871, George Eliot, Middlemarch:
Translations (10)
de Mist! (euphemism for "fuck!") · ru блин! - euphemism for "блядь!" (euphemism for "fuck!") · ca fonoll (euphemism for "fuck!") · es rayos (euphemism for "fuck!") · fr tabarnouche (euphemism for "fuck!") · ru песе́ц! - euphemism for "пиздец!" (euphemism for "fuck!") · pt fosca-se! (euphemism for "fuck!") · cs kurník (euphemism for "fuck!") · pl kurczę (euphemism for "fuck!") · pl kurde (euphemism for "fuck!")
Probably a variant of fadge (“to fit”), the confectionery sense having evolved from the meaning of “merging together” or “turning out as expected”.
Meanings
(uncountable) A type of very sweet candy or confection, usually made from sugar, butter, and milk or cream.
Have you tried the vanilla fudge? It's delicious!
(US, countable, uncountable) A type of very sweet candy or confection, usually made from sugar, butter, and milk or cream. ▸ Chocolate fudge.
(uncountable) Light or frothy nonsense.
(countable) A deliberately misleading or vague answer.
(dated, uncountable) A made-up story.
(archaic, countable, slang, uncountable) The stop press portion of a newspaper.
'That is all, sir—no, here is something more about it in the "fudge".'
Greatorex rearranged the paper to display the 'Stop Press' space and read on. 1927, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados Mysteries:
(countable) A less than perfect decision or solution; an attempt to fix an incorrect solution after the fact.
ru чушь (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · pl nonsens (light or frothy nonsense) · fr caramel (a very sweet confection) · pl fuszerka (a less than perfect decision or solution) · pl kit (a made-up story; nonsense; humbug) · es fudge (a very sweet confection) · de Pfuscherei (a less than perfect decision or solution) · mk глу́пост (light or frothy nonsense) · ja ファッジ (a very sweet confection) · de Fondant (a very sweet confection) · ru ири́ска (a very sweet confection) · ru враньё (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · fi fudge (a very sweet confection) · fr fondant (a very sweet confection) · fa اریس (a very sweet confection) · nl knoeierij (a less than perfect decision or solution) · de Blödsinn (light or frothy nonsense) · de frisierte Geschichte (a made-up story; nonsense; humbug) · mr फज (a very sweet confection) · bg извъртане (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · nl onzin (light or frothy nonsense) · pl kit (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · mi whāti (a very sweet confection) · de Pfusch (a less than perfect decision or solution) · bg мек бонбон (a very sweet confection) · pl banialuki (light or frothy nonsense) · tr saçmalık (light or frothy nonsense) · ru вы́думка (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · pl fuszerstwo (a less than perfect decision or solution) · pl partactwo (a less than perfect decision or solution) · fr fudge (a very sweet confection) · yi פֿאָדזש (a very sweet confection) · nl jantje van leiden (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · es ate (a very sweet confection) · ca caramel (a very sweet confection) · es dulce (a very sweet confection) · es ganache (a very sweet confection) · tr taklit (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · de Schaumschlägerei (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · nl kwakkel (a made-up story; nonsense; humbug) · de Herumreden (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · bg измислица (a made-up story; nonsense; humbug) · sv mjuk kola (a very sweet confection) · es foch (a very sweet confection) · de Ausweichen (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · pl bzdura (light or frothy nonsense) · fr échappatoire (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · ru ири́с (a very sweet confection) · bg глупост (light or frothy nonsense) · nl geknoei (a less than perfect decision or solution) · ko 퍼지 (a very sweet confection) · de Schwindel (a made-up story; nonsense; humbug) · ru вздор (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · bg заблуждение (deliberately misleading or vague answer) · nl karamel (a very sweet confection) · es componenda (a less than perfect decision or solution) · pl krówka (a very sweet confection) · fr balivernes (light or frothy nonsense) · de Fälschung (a made-up story; nonsense; humbug) · de Buttertoffee (a very sweet confection) · es manjar (a very sweet confection)
Probably a variant of fadge (“to fit”), the confectionery sense having evolved from the meaning of “merging together” or “turning out as expected”.
Meanings
(intransitive) To try to avoid giving a direct answer.
When I asked them if they had been at the party, they fudged.
(transitive) To alter something from its true state, as to hide a flaw or uncertainty, deliberately but not necessarily dishonestly or immorally.
Do you fudge your age?
The results of the experiment looked impressive, but it turned out the numbers had been fudged.
Llama 4, which was released in April 2025, was a flop, and the company was accused of gaming benchmarks to make it look more impressive. [Yann] LeCun admits that the “results were fudged a little bit”, and the team used different models for different benchmarks to give better results. 2026 January 3, Melissa Heikkilä, “Lunch with the FT: Yann LeCun”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 3:
I had to fudge the lighting to get the color to look good.
(ambitransitive, dated) To botch or bungle something.
To cheat, especially in the game of marbles.
(colloquial, qualifier:minced oath) Used in place of fuck.
Check yo' ass, or I'll fudge you up, mach schnell! 2000 January 21, Jesse Friedman, “get your wu-name now...”, in alt.music.ween (Usenet), archived from the original on 02 Dec 2025:
I thought so. And they say I have a bad memory.... Fudge em. 2001 September 20, Aerogram, “Things That Irritate A Sane Person”, in alt.worst.of.usenet (Usenet), archived from the original on 02 Dec 2025:
"Who the fudge are you?" ("Fudge" is not the word he uses but you get the idea.) / We say, "We're with CNN." / "I don't like the fudging media," is his reply. "Who are you supposed to be with?" (It's the first time he hasn't used the "fudge" word in a sentence.) 2002 March 15, Martin Savidge, “An uphill battle”, in CNN.com, archived from the original on 02 Jun 2002:
>>To what are you refering to exactly?.
>
>to how I fucked your mother
I cut her into pieces....... THEN I fudged her. 2002 September 13, T, “boy, i've never heard so many retards in my life!”, in alt.music.prince (Usenet), archived from the original on 02 Dec 2025:
pt tergiversar (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · pl rozmydlać (To alter something from its true state) · cmn 矇混 /蒙混 (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · yi פֿאַלשעווען (To alter something from its true state) · tr oynama yapmak (To alter something from its true state) · de frisieren (To alter something from its true state) · nl ontwijken (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · cmn 應付 /应付 (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · yi אַרומגיין (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · ru увильну́ть (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · nl verdraaien (To alter something from its true state) · fi muokata (To alter something from its true state) · de manipulieren (To alter something from its true state) · yi אַרויסדרייען זיך פֿון (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · ru уви́ливать (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · pl rozmydlić (To alter something from its true state) · cmn 敷衍 (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · fi muuttaa (To alter something from its true state) · fr trafiquer (To alter something from its true state) · bg извъртам (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · de ausweichen (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · fr tourner autour du pot (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · fr manipuler (To alter something from its true state) · fi kierrellä (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · fi manipuloida (To alter something from its true state) · fi vältellä (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · pl ominąć (To try to avoid giving a direct answer) · es manipular (To alter something from its true state) · pl omijać (To try to avoid giving a direct answer)