Fluffy

adjective FLUH-fee ˈflʌfi

Also spelled flufy

A softened, often affectionate or self-affirming way of describing a person — usually a woman — who is plump or full-figured, chosen to avoid the harshness of words like 'fat'. It carries a body-positive, celebratory tone rather than an insult, so that a 'fluffy' woman is amply and attractively rounded, and the word is worn with pride as much as used kindly by others. It belongs to the frank but appreciative Jamaican vocabulary of body shape, in which a generous figure is often admired rather than disparaged.

  • She a fluffy gyal an she proud a it.

    She's a full-figured girl and she's proud of it.

    'a' before 'fluffy' functions as the equating verb here, standing in for 'is'.

  • Mi love how mi fluffy body look inna dis dress.

    I love how my full figure looks in this dress.

    Used self-referentially as a term of self-acceptance.

  • Nuh badda call har fat, seh she fluffy.

    Don't go calling her fat, say she's fluffy.

    Shows the word being offered as the polite alternative to 'fat'.

Borrowed from English 'fluffy' (soft, puffy), repurposed as a gentle euphemism for a full body; part of a wider Caribbean and diaspora body-positivity vocabulary.

Generally friendly or affectionate, but tone matters — said mockingly it can still sting. Widely used by and about women; a woman describing herself as fluffy is claiming pride, not apologising.