warm fuzzy
English
Etymology
The term comes from Claude Steiner's children's story The Warm Fuzzy Tale.
Noun
warm fuzzy (plural warm fuzzies)
- (informal, chiefly in the plural) A good impression; a feeling of comfort or trust.
- I suppose they are a reputable business, but I didn't get a warm fuzzy from their salesman.
- 2009 April 19, Paul Bloom, “Natural Happiness”, in The New York Times:
- There is no payoff to getting the warm fuzzies in the presence of rats, snakes, mosquitoes, cockroaches, herpes simplex and the rabies virus.
- (informal, chiefly in the plural, often derogatory) A sense of accomplishment after performing a trivial, meaningless or pointless act.
- John picks up litter in our neighborhood because it gives him warm fuzzies.