What does “fofo” mean in Brazilian Portuguese?

Literally, fofo means soft, spongy, or fluffy — the word for a pillow, a sponge cake, or a cloud. But Brazilians reach for it constantly to mean “cute” or “adorable”: a cavalo fofo is a sweet, lovable horse, not a fluffy one. It agrees with what it describes, so a woman or a girl is fofa, and it’s the default warm reaction to animals, babies, and kind little gestures.

The two senses overlap on purpose — calling someone fofo feels like calling them soft and huggable. You’ll hear que fofo! (“how cute!”) at a puppy, você é tão fofa (“you’re so sweet”) to a friend, and the diminutive fofinho/fofinha for an extra dose of affection. The noun fofura (“cuteness”) works the same way: que fofura! The word is onomatopoeic, evoking something puffed-up and soft, and it’s used in both Brazil and Portugal — though Brazilians lean on it especially heavily.