spoof
Americannoun
-
spoofs
plural
-
a mocking imitation of someone or something, usually light and good-humored; lampoon or parody.
The show was a spoof of college life.
-
a hoax; prank.
verb (used with object)
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spoofs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spoofed,
past participle, past
-
spoofing
present participle
-
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)
-
spoofs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spoofed,
past participle, past
-
spoofing
present participle
noun
-
a mildly satirical mockery or parody; lampoon
a spoof on party politics
-
a good-humoured deception or trick; prank
verb
-
to indulge in a spoof of (a person or thing)
-
to communicate electronically under a false identity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
spoofsimple
-
spoofssimple
-
have spoofedperfect
-
has spoofedperfect
-
am spoofingprogressive
-
are spoofingprogressive
-
is spoofingprogressive
-
have been spoofingperfect progressive
-
has been spoofingperfect progressive
Past
-
spoofedsimple
-
had spoofedperfect
-
was spoofingprogressive
-
were spoofingprogressive
-
had been spoofingperfect progressive
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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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:
Baron Cohen, 54, is known for his self-created comic characters including infamous spoof wannabe gangster Ali G, Kazakh reporter Borat Sagdiyev, and Austrian fashionista Brüno Gehard.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
But Allyson says she and Jordan confirmed that the invitation was issued by their friends, and wasn’t a spoof.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 5, 2026
The full 60-second video was meant to spoof the horror movie “Obsession,” released earlier this summer, he said, but “missed the mark.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
He produced David Lynch’s 1980 drama “The Elephant Man,” while Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic “Psycho” inevitably calls to mind Brooks’ 1977 Hitchcock spoof “High Anxiety.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 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
It never disappointed us for a laugh with its great cast and their recurring characters and movie spoofs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
And the show has always overflowed with pop culture references and spoofs, which requires an almost bottomless well of musical knowledge.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 19, 2025
Baldwin is the latest star to return to the series as part of their election spoofs.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2024
Her performances during her three rounds on Friday quickly lit up the internet, with users creating a sea of memes and video spoofs, questioning everything from her outfit to her qualification.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2024
I can't say more without endangering the effect of Captain COKE'S ingenious shifts and spoofs.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, October 17, 1917 by Various
The first trailer "spoofed everything from Star Wars to Avatar to Harry Potter", according to Variety's report from the screening.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
“We usually rely on GPS for timing, but GPS is becoming increasingly prone to being spoofed or denied.”
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
The scene in which he torments his son by bouncing a basketball against his head was spoofed by Mike Myers' Dr Evil in the second Austin Powers film.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
Modern software is highly effective at flagging spoofed emailed addresses, said Igor Zaks, the president of Tenzor, a due diligence consultant specializing in receivables finance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 11, 2026
"Well, then, I spoofed him," said Petey, grinning.
From At Good Old Siwash by George Fitch
Last November, the UK government promised, external that call spoofing would be eliminated within a year.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
On Wednesday, OpenAI disclosed six new instances of its AI agents hiding their tracks, spoofing data and writing instructions to free themselves from constraints to escape the company’s control.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
And where does he fit into the British tradition of spoofing politicians?
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
Hard to know until the results of the June 2 jungle primary roll in, but his cheeky AI videos spoofing California’s progressive leaders have certainly lit up social media.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 24, 2026
The gradual augmentation of the spook's power is one of the most preposterous, the most laughable histories in the whole literature of spoofing.
From At Ypres with Best-Dunkley by Thomas Hope Floyd
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
