miff
Americannoun
-
petulant displeasure; ill humor.
-
a petty quarrel.
verb (used with object)
-
miffs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
miffed,
past participle, past
-
miffing
present participle
verb
noun
-
a petulant mood
-
a petty quarrel
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
miffsimple
-
miffssimple
-
have miffedperfect
-
has miffedperfect
-
am miffingprogressive
-
are miffingprogressive
-
is miffingprogressive
-
have been miffingperfect progressive
-
has been miffingperfect progressive
Past
-
miffedsimple
-
had miffedperfect
-
was miffingprogressive
-
were miffingprogressive
-
had been miffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of miff
1615–25; perhaps imitative of exclamation of disgust; compare German muffen to sulk
Explanation
The verb miff is an informal way to say "annoy." If your sister's constant humming is starting to drive you crazy, you can tell her it miffs you. Long ago, the word miff was also used to mean "huff" or "pique," so you might have described yourself as "in a miff" about your sister's tuneless humming. These days, you're more likely to see the adjective miffed describing someone who's irked: "I am so miffed that none of my friends came to my party on time." Experts guess that miff comes from the annoyed sound you might make when you're really miffed.
Vocabulary lists containing miff
The Sound and the Fury: Synonyms for "Anger"
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A Mighty Long Way
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The Red Car to Hollywood
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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.
See Examples For:
But then he’ll dig out a joke and do something that might hurt his business — and miff his investors — because, well, he thinks that something is the right thing to do.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2012
"Been fishing lately?" he asked easily, as though he had not left her that day in a miff.
From Her Prairie Knight by B. M. Bower
She's taken a miff at something, I suppose, and means to cut my acquaintance.
From Off-Hand Sketches A Little Dashed with Humor by T. S. (Timothy Shay) Arthur
He may take a miff at any of us any time.
From Breaking Away or The Fortunes of a Student by Kilburn
In a pet; in a passion or miff.
From 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue by Francis Grose
Then Jordan miffs it by not asking her mother, father, or her brothers for their blessing to propose to JoJo.
From Time ● Aug. 2, 2016
I have heard the secret history of a great many travelling parties that began very brightly, but ended in heart-burnings, miffs, and all sorts of troubles.
From Rollo in Naples by Jacob Abbott
With the frank outpourings of friendship and confidence; with the lavishness of mutual praise in youth, we enjoyed and joined in merry badinage, in miffs and flattery.
From Brook Farm Historic and Personal Memoirs by John Thomas Codman
Developers are miffed by the delay, Burton said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
"We started making shots," said Durant, a two-time NBA champion who launched his career with the Thunder franchise and heard boos from fans still miffed by his departure more than nine years ago.
From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026
The same people showering Triple H with unprintable language were likely a little bit miffed to see Cena win his inevitable third, eighth or fifteenth championship.
From Salon ● Dec. 14, 2025
Michael Crow, the outspoken longtime leader of Arizona State University, was miffed he hadn’t been approached.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 26, 2025
But I wasn’t going to let on that I was miffed.
From "Red Kayak" by Priscilla Cummings
In the end, Stone stuck with Fortune, but not without miffing Publisher Malcolm Forbes, who politely turned down later requests to use his private yacht.
From Time Magazine Archive
Insiders add that Snyder may have squelched his own chances by descending on the Today studio with big-star bravado, miffing the show's crew.
From Time Magazine Archive
We shan't be any nearer if we give mamma an opportunity of miffing away somewhere when we come.
From Somehow Good by William Frend De Morgan
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.
