What Does "Stuff" Mean and How Do You Use It?
If you’ve watched English-language movies or listened to people speaking in English, you’ve probably heard the word “stuff” often. But what exactly does it mean and why is it so common?
Stuff is a unique word because of the many ways it can be used. It’s best to explain it with examples, so that’s what we’ll do in this article. When we’re finished, you should be ready to start using it in your own conversations right away.
As a verb
We’ll begin with the simplest usage. The verb form of stuff means to “fill a space tightly with something.” Imagine packing a suitcase for a trip. If you’ve given yourself enough time to prepare, you can carefully fold and place all of your clothes inside so that everything is neat.
On the other hand, if you don’t have much time, you may quickly grab items and push them into your bag without worrying about neatness. In this second case, you are “stuffing” your bag. The nuance is that you are putting something into a space roughly, forcefully or without care for neatness.
The waiter grabbed the tip off the table and stuffed it into his pocket.
There was no place to throw away the paper since the trash can was already stuffed with garbage.
It can also be used to mean “eat a large amount.”
The kids stuffed themselves with pizza and potato chips.
Some foods can be stuffed when they are filled with another kind of food.
These peppers are stuffed with macaroni and cheese. They're delicious!
As an noun
The noun form of stuff is a little trickier. Basically, it means “things.”
What kinds of things? Well, almost anything!
The keys, coins and wallet on your desk? That’s stuff.
Reports you have to write for work? That’s also stuff.
The pile of toys your child left on the floor? Stuff!
Even things that you can’t touch, such as work, activities or ideas can be stuff. Let’s explore more through examples.
Physical stuff
When talking about physical items that you can actually see and touch, stuff can be anything as long as it is not singular. For example, a single apple or pen cannot be called “stuff.” However, if you have several apples or pens, then it’s OK!
Look at this mess you’ve made! Clean up all of this stuff before you go to bed.
In this example, the speaker is talking about the items that have been left around the room.
Thank you for coming to the party! You can leave your stuff in the closet.
This time, stuff refers to the guests’ jackets, bags, etc.
Stuff is a very convenient way to refer to things as a group when the individual items are unknown or not important.
I put a lot of stuff in my bag and it’s really heavy.
We don’t know exactly what's in the bag, but it's not important for us to know; the main thing here is the weight of the bag.
We bought a bunch of stuff since it was all on sale.
Here, as well, the meaning of stuff isn’t clear. If you want to know specifically, you can simply ask.
A
What kind of stuff did you buy?
B
Shoes and lots of cosmetics.
Figurative stuff
When using stuff figuratively, the rules aren’t so strict about what is singular or plural.
Similar to what we’ve mentioned earlier, when what you are talking about is unknown or not important, you can call it "stuff."
I have a bunch of stuff to do this weekend, so I can't go to the party.
Here, it refers to activities. Perhaps the person needs to visit the bank, do their laundry or study for a test. Again, if the other person wants to know about the specific activities, they can ask.
She's studied a lot of stuff, like karate, judo and kickboxing.
In this example, it means various styles of martial arts.
I couldn’t understand most of the stuff he was talking about.
This time it refers to something someone said.
Pop music? I don’t like that stuff. I prefer power metal and grindcore!
In this example, it is a particular kind of music.
He’s got a lot of stuff on his mind right now, so he’s a little stressed.
In this example, “stuff” refers to someone’s thoughts.
Etcetera
Another very common usage in casual conversations is the expression "~ and stuff." It's another way to say "etc." or "and other things like that."
I like traveling, hiking and stuff like that.
She wanted to know restaurant recommendations and stuff. I told her to check online.
They visited Japan because they're interested in anime and manga and stuff.
Related article: Are There Other Ways to Say "Etc."?
Wrap-up
As you can see, stuff is a word that can be used to talk about many different things in many different ways. It's one of the most useful words in the English language, especially in casual conversations.
Once you've learned it, you'll be able to speak more naturally in addition to understanding others when they use it. And that's a very good thing, because you will hear it often!
