fudge
noun
[ fʌdʒ ]
• a soft crumbly or chewy sweet made from sugar, butter, and milk or cream.
• an attempt to fudge an issue.
• "the new settlement is a fudge rushed out to win cheers at the conference"
Opposite:
straightforwardness,
• a piece of late news inserted in a newspaper page.
fudge
verb
• present or deal with (something) in a vague or inadequate way, especially so as to conceal the truth or mislead.
• "the authorities have fudged the issue"
Similar:
evade,
dodge,
skirt,
avoid,
duck,
shift ground about,
hedge,
prevaricate,
vacillate,
be non-committal,
shuffle,
parry questions,
stall,
shilly-shally,
beat about the bush,
mince (one's) words,
hum and haw,
cop out,
sit on the fence,
flannel,
waffle,
tergiversate,
Opposite:
be forthright about,
fudge
exclamation
• nonsense! (expressing disbelief or annoyance).
• "‘You know how she despises me!’ ‘Fudge! She dotes on you’"
Origin:
early 17th century: probably an alteration of obsolete fadge ‘to fit’. Early usage was as a verb in the sense ‘turn out as expected’, also ‘merge together’: this probably gave rise to its use in confectionery. In the late 17th century the verb came to mean ‘fit together in a clumsy or underhand manner’, which included facts or figures being cobbled together in a superficially convincing way: this led to the exclamation ‘fudge!’ and to noun fudge (sense 3 of the noun).
