What does fabber mean?
"Fabber" is an informal noun with two main uses. Its primary sense belongs to the world of making and manufacturing: a fabber is a person—or sometimes a machine—that fabricates physical objects, particularly through digital fabrication technologies such as 3D printing. The term gained traction among hobbyists and engineers in the early twenty-first century, when desktop devices capable of producing real parts at home were still novel, and "fabber" captured the excitement of owning a personal factory. A secondary, more colloquial sense describes a person who fabricates stories—in short, a liar—though this usage is far less common than near-synonyms like "fibber." The word derives from "fabricate," which traces back to Latin fabricari, "to fashion or build," itself rooted in fabrica, "a workshop or craft." Whether describing a creative builder or an inventive storyteller, "fabber" carries a light, modern tone and remains most at home in informal speech and tech writing.
A person or device that fabricates objects, especially by means of digital fabrication or 3D printing.
"Her garage workshop now centers on a homemade fabber built from an open-source kit."
Common mainly in maker, hobbyist, and engineering contexts.
Informally, a person who invents stories or tells lies; a fabricator of falsehoods.
"Everyone knew him as a cheerful fabber whose tall tales grew bigger each year."
Colloquial and considerably rarer than "fibber" or "liar."
Standard plural; applies to both the maker/machine sense and the liar sense.
"Early fabbers were expensive kits, but prices fell quickly as the technology matured."
Long before 3D printing went mainstream, engineers dreamed of a home 'fabber' — a machine that could make almost anything, right on your desk.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of fabber
"Fabber" is a modern English formation from the verb "fabricate," shortened colloquially to "fab" and extended with the agentive suffix "-er." "Fabricate" descends from Latin fabricari, meaning to frame, construct, or build, which itself comes from fabrica—a workshop, craft, or artful product—related to faber, the Latin word for a craftsman or smith. The sense of a lying "fabber" follows the older figurative use of "fabricate" to mean inventing falsehoods. The technology-related sense became current in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries alongside the rise of rapid prototyping and 3D printing.
Related word forms
How fabber is actually used
"Fabber" is an informal, somewhat technical term. In maker and engineering communities it typically refers to a person or device engaged in digital fabrication; as a label for a liar it is colloquial and much rarer than "fibber" or "liar."
Easily confused with fabber
A fibber tells trivial or playful lies, while a fabber is primarily someone who makes or builds things through fabrication, though it can also mean a liar.