spoof
Americannoun
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a mocking imitation of someone or something, usually light and good-humored; lampoon or parody.
The show was a spoof of college life.
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a hoax; prank.
verb (used with object)
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to mock (something or someone) lightly and good-humoredly; kid.
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to fool by a hoax; play a trick on, especially one intended to deceive.
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to trick (electronic devices, as radar), by interrupting or otherwise corrupting data in order to avoid detection.
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Digital Technology. to misrepresent (the identity of a party or the origin of data) in a communication, in order to misdirect digital authentication or other security measures: Suspects spoofed caller ID when they phoned in the anonymous threats.
Hackers spoofed the IP to fool the network into providing access.
Suspects spoofed caller ID when they phoned in the anonymous threats.
The sender’s email address was spoofed to fool the company’s spam filters.
verb (used without object)
noun
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a mildly satirical mockery or parody; lampoon
a spoof on party politics
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a good-humoured deception or trick; prank
verb
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to indulge in a spoof of (a person or thing)
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to communicate electronically under a false identity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has spoofedperfect 3rd person singular
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have spoofedperfect
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has been spoofingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am spoofingprogressive 1st person singular
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is spoofingprogressive 3rd person singular
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spoofssingular 3rd person
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spoofingparticiple
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are spoofingprogressive
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have been spoofingperfect progressive
Past
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had spoofedperfect
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had been spoofingperfect progressive
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was spoofingprogressive singular
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spoofedsimple
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were spoofingprogressive plural
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spoofedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of spoof
First recorded in 1885–90; after a game invented and named by Arthur Roberts (1852–1933), British comedian
Explanation
A spoof is a funny version of something, like a movie or a book. The classic comedy "Young Frankenstein" is a spoof of earlier, serious film adaptations of the famous novel. You can also call a spoof a parody. A spoof borrows material from the original, copying the style and characteristics that make it obvious what the subject of the spoof is. Movies like "Spaceballs," a spoof of the "Star Wars" films, and "Scary Movie," which spoofs the entire horror film genre, are great examples. Spoof originally meant "hoax," and it comes from a game, Spouf, invented by a British comedian in 1884.
Vocabulary lists containing spoof
Lesson 3
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Karthik Delivers
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"Watched" by Marina Budhos, Chapters 10–12
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
If Broadway has scraped the barrel-bottom of A-list movies to adapt, at least it can mock them: “Titanique” is a frisky and funny spoof of the James Cameron juggernaut about that big ship that sank.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 5, 2026
Once inside the Gulf, Diakun said, vessels can "spoof" their transponders to hide their positions and even perform ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil, testing the terms of the US blockade.
From Barron's • Apr. 22, 2026
Lee Marvin previously won for portraying twin gunfighters Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn in the 1965 western spoof “Cat Ballou.”
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2026
He praises the "deft deployment of slightly risque jokes" as well as a Bridgerton spoof starring Miss Piggy, saying it's a "return to basics, and all the more joyous for it".
From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026
This reminded Jonah of a spoof he’d seen once in MAD magazine that was supposed to teach kids how to lie convincingly.
From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
