heavy fug
- noun
- /ˈhɛvi fʌg/
- Literature
- After hours of cooking, a heavy fug clung to the kitchen and made it hard to breathe.
Examples
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The old library had a heavy fug of dust and musty books lingering in the air.
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I couldn't breathe in the heavy fug of the crowded bar.
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He opened the window to clear the heavy fug left after the guests departed.
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The room was filled with heavy fug after the party.
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After hours of cooking, a heavy fug clung to the kitchen and made it hard to breathe.
-
The old library had a heavy fug of dust and musty books lingering in the air.
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I couldn't breathe in the heavy fug of the crowded bar.
Synonyms
Stuffy, smoky air in a room that feels unpleasant to breathe
Antonyms
How Stuffy
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun 'fug' means a thick, unpleasant indoor atmosphere and 'heavy' simply intensifies that quality, so the phrase 'heavy fug' is directly and transparently interpretable as a very thick or oppressive indoor atmosphere. This follows a standard adjective + noun composition pattern (similar to 'heavy smoke' or 'thick fog'), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily understand the MWE.
Etymology
Heavy fug may come from an old word for smoke or steam, and it gives a clear picture of thick, stale air full of smoke, dust, or cooking smells that sits low like a heavy blanket. That's why it now means 'a stuffy, hard-to-breathe atmosphere'.