diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 33d20a45bf5..2278f24864a 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@ Features added
 * #9691: C, added new info-field ``retval``
   for :rst:dir:`c:function` and :rst:dir:`c:macro`.
 * C++, added new info-field ``retval`` for :rst:dir:`cpp:function`.
+* #9618: i18n: Add :confval:`gettext_allow_fuzzy_translations` to allow "fuzzy"
+  messages for translation
 * #9672: More CSS classes on Python domain descriptions
 * #9695: More CSS classes on Javascript domain descriptions
 * #9683: Revert the removal of ``add_stylesheet()`` API.  It will be kept until
diff --git a/doc/usage/configuration.rst b/doc/usage/configuration.rst
index 46c82e56d57..6725bd3e0c9 100644
--- a/doc/usage/configuration.rst
+++ b/doc/usage/configuration.rst
@@ -802,6 +802,13 @@ documentation on :ref:`intl` for details.
    .. versionchanged:: 1.5
       Use ``locales`` directory as a default value
 
+.. confval:: gettext_allow_fuzzy_translations
+
+   If true, "fuzzy" messages in the message catalogs are used for translation.
+   The default is ``False``.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 4.3
+
 .. confval:: gettext_compact
 
    .. versionadded:: 1.1
diff --git a/sphinx/application.py b/sphinx/application.py
index 4a75a83fec3..0824333921a 100644
--- a/sphinx/application.py
+++ b/sphinx/application.py
@@ -284,7 +284,7 @@ def _init_i18n(self) -> None:
                                      self.config.language, self.config.source_encoding)
             for catalog in repo.catalogs:
                 if catalog.domain == 'sphinx' and catalog.is_outdated():
-                    catalog.write_mo(self.config.language)
+                    catalog.write_mo(self.config.language, self.config.gettext_allow_fuzzy_translations)
 
             locale_dirs: List[Optional[str]] = list(repo.locale_dirs)
             locale_dirs += [None]
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/__init__.py b/sphinx/builders/__init__.py
index 5ad98953902..22b6fafe06f 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/__init__.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/__init__.py
@@ -217,7 +217,7 @@ def cat2relpath(cat: CatalogInfo) -> str:
         for catalog in status_iterator(catalogs, __('writing output... '), "darkgreen",
                                        len(catalogs), self.app.verbosity,
                                        stringify_func=cat2relpath):
-            catalog.write_mo(self.config.language)
+            catalog.write_mo(self.config.language, self.config.gettext_allow_fuzzy_translations)
 
     def compile_all_catalogs(self) -> None:
         repo = CatalogRepository(self.srcdir, self.config.locale_dirs,
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/gettext.py b/sphinx/builders/gettext.py
index be178ca244d..da55d0459bb 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/gettext.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/gettext.py
@@ -289,6 +289,7 @@ def finish(self) -> None:
 def setup(app: Sphinx) -> Dict[str, Any]:
     app.add_builder(MessageCatalogBuilder)
 
+    app.add_config_value('gettext_allow_fuzzy_translations', False, 'gettext')
     app.add_config_value('gettext_compact', True, 'gettext', {bool, str})
     app.add_config_value('gettext_location', True, 'gettext')
     app.add_config_value('gettext_uuid', False, 'gettext')
diff --git a/sphinx/util/i18n.py b/sphinx/util/i18n.py
index e82e33f578f..02b42cf0b33 100644
--- a/sphinx/util/i18n.py
+++ b/sphinx/util/i18n.py
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ def is_outdated(self) -> bool:
             not path.exists(self.mo_path) or
             path.getmtime(self.mo_path) < path.getmtime(self.po_path))
 
-    def write_mo(self, locale: str) -> None:
+    def write_mo(self, locale: str, use_fuzzy: bool = False) -> None:
         with open(self.po_path, encoding=self.charset) as file_po:
             try:
                 po = read_po(file_po, locale)
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def write_mo(self, locale: str) -> None:
 
         with open(self.mo_path, 'wb') as file_mo:
             try:
-                write_mo(file_mo, po)
+                write_mo(file_mo, po, use_fuzzy)
             except Exception as exc:
                 logger.warning(__('writing error: %s, %s'), self.mo_path, exc)