farb

F4A1R1B3

noun

A historical reenactor (especially an American Civil War reenactor) whose efforts at a historically accurate portrayal are, in the opinion of the speaker, inadequate (for example, wearing a modern wristwatch with period costume). The opposite of farb is "hard-core" (or hardcore), someone who is, in the opinion of the speaker, an "authenticity fanatic".

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Meanings

nounfarb (plural farbs)

plural farbs

  1. USA historical reenactor (especially an American Civil War reenactor) whose efforts at a historically accurate portrayal are, in the opinion of the speaker, inadequate (for example, wearing a modern wristwatch with period costume). The opposite of farb is "hard-core" (or hardcore), someone who is, in the opinion of the speaker, an "authenticity fanatic".

    "Farb was the worst insult in the hardcore vocabulary. It referred to reenactors who approached the past past with a lack of verisimilitude.

    1998, Tony Horwitz, Confederates in the Attic, 1st Vintage Departures edition, Vintage Books, →ISBN, page 10
verbfarb (third-person singular simple present farbs, present participle farbing, simple past and past participle farbed)

present singular third person farbs · participle present farbing · participle past farbed · past farbed

  1. USintransitiveslangTo act like a farb; to portray a historical character in an inauthentic way.

Origin

Disputed. Various explanations of the origin are given: * That it is a contraction of the phrase "far be it from me to criticize anyone, but...", or of "far below" (the expected standard). * That it comes from the German word Farbe ("colour") (many fabrics dyed with modern dyes are "too colourful" to be authentic, by comparison with their historical originals). * There exists a letter dated 1 April 1863 from an A.R. Crawford in the 76th Illinois Infantry, Co D, that uses the phrase, "fallacious accoutrements & reprehensible baggage," in description of six children posing in phony military gear during a sham reenactment that took place during the actual Civil War. Many point to this phrase as the origin of the word, citing "farb" as an acronym. * Many early replica rifles were marked with what looked like "F.A.R.B." among the proofmarks. Removing this would make the rifle look more authentic.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

barffrab
Cite this entry
APA

farb. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/farb

MLA

“farb.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/farb. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “farb,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/farb.

Source: farb on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.