faffv.
/faf/, U.S. /fæf/ dialect and colloquial.
intransitive. To fuss, to dither. Often with about. Also as n., fuss, ‘flap’.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > [noun]
fever1340
motiona1398
quotidian?a1439
rufflea1535
commotion1581
fret1582
hurry1600
puddering1603
tumultuousnessa1617
trepidation1625
feverishness1638
boilingc1660
fermentationc1660
tumult1663
ferment1672
stickle1681
fuss1705
whirl1707
flurry1710
sweat1715
fluster1728
pucker1740
flutter1741
flustration1747
flutteration1753
tremor1753
swithera1768
twitteration1775
state1781
stew1806
scrow1808
tumultuating1815
flurrification1822
tew1825
purr1842
pirr1856
tête montée1859
go1866
faff1874
poultry flutter1876
palaver1878
thirl1879
razzle-dazzle1885
nervism1887
flurry-scurry1888
fikiness1889
foment1889
dither1891
swivet1892
flusterment1895
tither1896
overwroughtness1923
mania1925
stumer1932
tizzy1935
two and eight1938
snit1939
tizz1953
tiswas1960
wahala1966
the mind > emotion > excitement > nervous excitement > be in state of nervous excitement [verb (intransitive)]
to take ona1450
seethe1609
trepidate1623
to take on oneself1632
flutter1668
pother1715
to be upon the nettle (also in a nettle)1723
to be nerve all over1778
to be all nerve1819
to be (all) on wires1824
to break up1825
to carry on1828
to be on (occasionally upon or on the) edge1872
faff1874
to have kittens1900
flap1910
to be in, get in(to), a flap1939
to go sparec1942
to keep (also blow, lose) one's cool1964
faffle1965
to get one's knickers in a twist1971
to have a canary1971
to wet one's pants1979
tweak1981
1874 S. Baring-Gould Yorks. Oddities I. 179 T' clock~maker..fizzled an' faff'd aboot her, but nivver did her a farthing's worth o' good.
1888 J. Dalby Mayroyd of Mytholm III. vi. 99 A flay-crow wench, aw feathers an' faff.
1954 N. Coward Future Indefinite v. 319 The Welfare Officers appeared,..faffed about, used either too much initiative or too little, and retired in due course.
1959 ‘O. Mills’ Stairway to Murder x. 117 It's a bad time for the villagers anyway, faffing around after the ewes.
1960 M. Cecil Something in Common xx. 228 Dithering about in a perpetual faff.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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