fudge the issue

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Meaning · English

Avoid dealing with a problem directly or clearly

Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt

Tránh giải quyết vấn đề một cách trực tiếp hoặc rõ ràng

Machine-translated — suggest a fix

Literally: to muddle or obscure
Where it’s used: Used Widespread English

Examples

The politician tried to fudge the issue of tax reform

AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)

Sources & notes

Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.

Common questions

What does “fudge the issue” mean?

Avoid dealing with a problem directly or clearly Literally: to muddle or obscure

Is “fudge the issue” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.