The following is an introductory list of terminology used in the Furry Community - it does not signify ALL of the terminology but is a starting point - please post suggested additions and amendments in the comments below

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

Anthropomorphic: Mixing animals with human characteristics. Think of cartoons, Aesop’s Fables, werewolves, and much more. 

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Arm sleeves: Sleeves often used along with short sleeved shirts to make it appear that you have a bodysuit underneath the clothing.

Awoo - Howling

B

Bean: A sweet, cute and loveable character, or in reference to toes or digits on a paw

Blep: The act of sticking out your tounge

Bodysuit: The part of a suit that is worn on your body

Boop the snoot: A common phrase used before poking someone's nose. 

Boop: The act of poking someone on the nose

Breaking the Magic: A taboo act with a fursona. It can happen by talking out of character at the wrong time, or if a costume comes off among fleshies, or if you ignore their furry name and call them by their Steve name. 

Bronies: Bronies are adults who love My Little Pony. These fandoms are sometimes lumped in with furries, but they aren’t the same.

C

Con Crud: A rare itchy fungus harbored in fursuits. Cons bring vets to help everyone get vaccinated.

Confuzzled: Furries speak of a well known tendency for new, curious members to enter the fandom with very conservative sexuality, then over time shift from straight to very open and bisexual or gay for furries. That’s “Confuzzled”. They joke that “the fandom turned me gay!” It’s not the same as “jailhouse gay” in regular society; it’s same-sex attraction specifically for furries, but not Steves, and it’s permanent.

D

Digigrade: Legs on a suit that are padded to look more alike from a real animal

E

F

Feral: An animal that still stands on all fours

Fleshies / Smoothies:  Outsiders to the fandom.  Furries often make fun of them as “Steve” or “Steves”.

Floor dragger: A tail that is long enough to drag along the floor.  Usually used to describe a fursuit tail

Follow me eyes: Eyes that are slightly sunken into the head to give an illusion that they are always looking at you

Footpaw: The paws of an anthro character that are their feet

Fullsuit: A suit with head, paws, tail and bodysuit

Furfag: An outspokenly flamboyant furry who delights in ogling tails and fursuit crushes, and will marf and scritch without shame or breaking the magic.

FurFu: Martial art developed for fursuiters and for combating fursecution. You can find online music videos of synchronized dancing by skilled FurFu artists. There have been controversial incidents of fursecution at cons that led to Steves getting swarmed, taken down and furpiled. However no furry has been arrested, due to the targets reporting a pleasant experience and refusing to press charges.

Furmeets and Cons (Conventions): Organized gatherings that include fursuiting, art, creative writing, parties and more. Cons are usually held at hotels once a year. Meets can be casual and regular and held at houses, public social places, or special ones in the woods.

Furpile: Group cuddles, not necessarily for yiffing. 

Furry trash: A term used for either a particular person or activity used ironically to make fun of themselves.  Usually when its something particularly cringey.

Furry: Anthropomorphic media and its fans. They often (but not always) role-play an animal character. A reptile one is a Scaly.

Fursecution: Prejudice against furries by Steves.

Fursona: An animal used to represent a person within the fandom.  Other names for it can be scalesona, pokesona or feathersona but they are less commonly used.  Can also be just shortened to 'sona'

Fursuit Crush: A fursuiter who gives you butterflies.

Fursuit handler (AKA Spotter): Someone who accompanies a fursuiter and helps them out, tells them if they're going to hit something, introduces people if the suiter doesn't speak, and generally keeps them safe.

Fursuit: The costume that brings a fursona to life, and can fulfill a wish to transform.

Fursuiter: A person wearing a fursuit. Sometimes just called a suiter

Fursuiting: The act of wearing a fursuit

G

Ghost tail: The feeling that you get after wearing a tail for a long time then taking it off. It feels like something is missing and there should be a tail there. (Otherkin also feel this even without wearing a tail beforehand)

Grey muzzle: An older member of the fandom

H

Halfsuit: A suit with a head, paws, tail and either legs or top half of a bodysuit but not together

Handpaw: The paws of an anthro character that are their hands

Headless Lounge: A room set aside for fursuiters at cons for them to take off their suit's head and cool off

Hugs, Huggles and Cuddles: Also called “the furry handshake”, a hug is the typical greeting among every furry. Huggles are so enthusiastic that you fall over. Cuddles continue for a while. 

I

Indoor paws: Footpaws that have more detail on the bottom, showing pawpads.  These need to be protected if used outdoors but look cuter

J

K

Kemono: A fursuit style inspired by anime with very large eyes and small muzzle

L

M

Macrophile: Wants to be stepped on by Godzilla.

Maker: Usually refers to a person who makes fursuits.  Some people may say 'my maker is ___" and they are talking about who they commissioned for their suit. 

Marf: To proposition a furry, say “Yiff?” If they answer “Marf,” they probably aren’t in the mood. A neutral expression that can also work like “smurf” in the Smurfs cartoon: “Can you marf me the salt?

Murr / Murrsuit: “Murr” is a sexy murmur. A Murrsuit is a fursuit equipped for yiffing with SPH’s (Strategically Placed Holes.)

Musclefurs vs. Fluffers: Some fursonas show highly exaggerated muscle tone.  “Furry abs” are especially distasteful to fluffers who prefer soft, sweet and cuddly characters. A classic fluffer icon is Rabbit from Winnie The Pooh. (He/she turns the wedge shape of a musclefur upside down). Around the year 2000, there was major fandom drama with both sides fighting over the definition of “real” furries.

N

Nonfur: A person not part of the furry fandom. A 'normie'

O

Otherkin: These fandoms are sometimes lumped in with furries, but they aren’t the same. Otherkin feel like a different species or entity in their body. 

Outdoor paws: Footpaws with little to no detail on the bottom, instead they have a hard protective bottom great for being used outside

P

Partial: A suit with just the head and handpaws.  May or may not also have footpaws and tail

Pawbs: Paws

PCD (Post-Con Depression): Grief about having to return to life among Steves.

Planties: Planties are the anthro-botanical fandom. These fandoms are sometimes lumped in with furries, but they aren’t the same.

Plantigrade: Legs on a suit with no padding so they look straight like a human's

Plush: A fursuit style that has a very large amount of padding and large paws in order to look like a large stuffed animal

Plushie / Plushophile:  A plushie is a stuffed toy.  Plushophiles collect them, and get huge respect from ebay sellers for doing astonishing bidding wars.

Poodling: When someone wears a partial suit without long sleeved clothing and shows bare skin

Popufur: A popular furry, or a bad word for ones who appear arrogant and only loved for their suits. Like “hipster”, nobody self-identifies as one without irony, so it’s a meaningless word that can be thrown at anyone.

Q

Quadsuit: A suit made to look like an animal on all fours rather than standing upright

R

Realistic: A fursuit with features alike from real animals.  Does not need to have realistic colors

S

Scalie: Just a furry who has a scaled sona.  They like to pretend they are more mature. they are not

Scat: A style of jazz singing, used by furries to talk among Steves without giving away secrets or breaking the magic. 

Scritching: Grooming and massaging for affection, or to make sure there’s no Con Crud.

Sparkledog: A character design that is very brightly colored with colors that do not match.  Does not need to be a dog but usually is

Squeaker: A fursuiter that makes squeaking sounds rather than talking or making noises with their mouth, usually using an actual squeaker found in dog toys.  Often used in a negative sense as squeakers are commonly viewed as annoying

Squizzled: Squeakers are popular fursona enhancements. They should be used carefully. Overuse is incredibly annoying. Inexperienced users tend to wander around cons sounding like field mice on crack, leaving a trail of snarls and tinnitus. Being sick to death of squeakers is “squizzled.”

Starting a howl: From the movie zootopia, it is when one person howls and several people join.  Usually happens at a con or meeting.

Suit Envy / Suiter Gap: Some furries can’t afford fursuits or feel underappreciated, so they give sour grapes about popufurs. The suiter gap is the portion who want suits and don’t have them. Many cons have panels about how to end these problems. 

T

Toe beans: Paw pads of an animal.  Could also just be called 'beans'

Toony: A fursuit style that is made to look very cartoony with exaggerated features to look cuter.  Most common style

U

V

Vore and Rooting: Vore is an interest in being consumed or inserted in orifices of a macro character.  Rooting is mainly seen in art where a character (like a snake) goes in one hole and out another, often at the same time.

W

Weaseling, Double Weaseling and Cuckoo Play: When one furry puts on another’s suit for yiffing with a partner who doesn’t know. A typical reaction when they find out is delight or humor (rather than shock or outrage.) A less typical but even funnier situation is when one fur catches on to another’s plan, and flips it back by having the target secretly switch places with someone else. That’s Double Weaseling. Cuckoo Play is another word for this interest. A Cuckoo Play party is when a whole group of furries switch suits at the same time. And sometimes weaseling can mean posting from someone elses account or just telling ridiculous stories.

X

Y

Yiff/yiffing: “Yiff” is a sound of excitement made by foxes. If cuddles and scritching get sexual, that’s yiffing.

Z