noun
Synonym Usage
See boorish ( def. ).
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of oaf
1615–25; variant of auf, Middle English alfe, Old English ælf elf; cognate with German Alp nightmare
Explanation
An oaf is the boring, ill-mannered person you hope doesn't show up at your party and send the other guests running for the door. There are many ways to be an oaf: you can be loud, insensitive, rude, or just plain stupid. The word is related to the Old English word for "elf," and originally meant a changeling — an elf's child, a little darling not known for good manners — and you probably wouldn't want one of them at your party either.
Vocabulary lists containing oaf
May the 4th Be With You: Star Wars Words
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Whoops! Synonyms for "Clumsy"
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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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:
Going the opposite way, Justin Theroux, as the Jeff Bezos-like billionaire with the sensibility of an oaf, is awful from the start and his schtick gets more grating the more he presses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026
The story that emerged was one of Bankman-Fried not as an oaf who made mistakes but as a mastermind who manipulated a whole scheme to defraud lots of people out of lots of money.
From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2024
But neither should you behave like an oaf.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 12, 2023
I just have the sense that life is just this clumsy oaf.
From Salon ● Dec. 19, 2022
If the gods had given her the strength they gave Jaime and that swaggering oaf Robert, she could have made her own escape.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
What they were doing with these oafs, I do not know, but it was astonishing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2026
She scrutinized the vicissitudes of the New York City Ballet as well as the feats of the ballroom-dancing pros and celebrity oafs of the popular TV series, “Dancing With the Stars.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2024
They’re confirmed oafs who, like their father, love saying the quiet part out loud, and who make themselves into fools jockeying for his attention.
From The Verge ● Aug. 14, 2018
But it sounds like when you leave the house, you’re beset by multiple well-meaning oafs who think pawing at you and bellowing in your ear is the best way to offer their assistance.
From Slate ● Jan. 5, 2016
"Because these child kings and drunken oafs can call other strong men, with other swords."
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
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.
