foo-foo, n. — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

foo-foo n.

[SE fool + redup.]

1. (US/W.I., also fu-fu) a naïve, gullible, foolish person.

1837		A. Greene Glance at N.Y. I v: mose: [To Harry, pointing after loafers] Them’s foo-foos! george: What’s foo-foos? mose: Why, foo-foos is outsiders [...] A foo foo, or outsider is a chap wot can’t come the big figure. george: What’s the big figure? mose: The big figure here, is three cents for a glass of grog and a night’s lodging.
1848		Boston Blade 17 June n.p.: If I don’t show de foo-foos de gallusest piece of calico out I’ll leave der mercheene.
1855		Broadway Belle, and Mirror of the Times (N.Y.) 8 Jan. 2/3: Them Dutchmen is regular fu-fu’s they are.
1856		Life in Boston & N.Y. (Boston, MA) 11 Oct. n.p.: Who does the dirty work for a certain foo-foo in the distillery?
1859		Bartlett Dict. Americanisms (2nd edn) 158: A foo-foo, or an outsider, is a chap that can’t come the big figure.
1864		J. Barber War Letters of a Disbanded Volunteer 242: I feel riled and put by to think that my illustrus frend should be held up to public contemp as a foo-foo.
1905		‘Hugh McHugh’ You Can Search Me 51: ‘That duck isn’t a critic, he’s a only a Foofoo.’ ‘What the devil is a Foofoo?’ Bunch asked. ‘A Foofoo is something that tried to happen and then lost the address,’ I explained.
1925		(con. 1899) H.P. Bailey Shanghaied Out of Frisco 57: So happy that the ‘spare parts’ (apprentices) formed a Foofoo-band.
1972		D. Dalby ‘African element in Amer. Eng.’ in Kochman Rappin’ and Stylin’ Out 180: foo-foo—‘outsider, newcomer; one who does not belong or is not accepted; fool’.

2. (US gay) a woman who tries over-hard to impress men.

1999

D. Skeen Different Sexual Worlds 62: A foo-foo, in gay parlance, is a woman who, being rather foolish, makes an excessive effort to impress men.

In compounds

foo-foo dust (n.) [orig. naut. jargon foo-foo, cologne (but note cit. 1941)]

1. (US, also foo-foo, foo-foo powder, frou-frou powder) talcum powder, baby powder, anti-louse powder etc.

1918		Stars and Stripes 12 Apr. 8: One o’ thuh cooks spilt a can o’ this here ‘frou-frou’ powder in the cocoa.
1941		N.Y. Herald Trib. 27 Apr. 20/2: Here is a list of navy ‘slanguage’: [...] Foo-foo—Talcum powder.
1972		B. Rodgers Queens’ Vernacular 84: foo-foo dust (kwn LV & SF, mid-late ’60s) any powder: baby powder, antilouse powder dusted upon new prisoners, chalk dust, etc.
2000		Other Side of the Wall: Prisoner’s Dict. July 🌐 Foo-foo: Deodorant and after-shave, as in ‘foo-foo’ed back.’.

2. (drugs, also foo-foo, foo-foo stuff) any form of powdered narcotic [ext. of sense 1].

1942		Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Sl.
1959		J.E. Schmidt Narcotics Lingo and Lore.
2001		ONDCP Street Terms 9: Foo foo stuff — Heroin; cocaine.
2013		T. Dorsey Riptide Ultra-Glide 22: Coke [...] Charlie, Chippy, Belushi, Foo-Foo, Merck, mojo, movie star [etc].