boffin

[ bof-in ]

nounBritish Slang.

a scientist or technical expert.

Origin of boffin

First recorded in 1940–45; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use boffin in a sentence

A bunch of boffins and academics were assigned the job of finding a better defence for our bombers.
Peter Worthington on Thinking Outside the Box | David Frum | May 17, 2013 | THE DAILY BEAST
American foreign-policy boffins need to dust off their atlases.
And You Thought the Economy Was Scary? | Andrew Keen | March 7, 2009 | THE DAILY BEAST
Bella parted from her father, and returned to the Boffins, to find fresh proofs of the deterioration of the Golden Dustman.
The World's Greatest Books, Vol III | Arthur Mee and J.A. Hammerton, Eds.
I am not going to have George Sampson eyed as if he had come from the Boffins, and sit silent under it.
Our Mutual Friend | Charles Dickens
At last I hope you have got your wishes realized—by your Boffins.
Our Mutual Friend | Charles Dickens

But you won't take me to your Boffins, I can tell you—you and your Boffins too!'
Our Mutual Friend | Charles Dickens
I am not going to be eyed as if I had come from the Boffins, and sit silent under it.
Our Mutual Friend | Charles Dickens

British Dictionary definitions for boffin

boffin

/ (ˈbɒfɪn) /

noun

British informal a scientist, esp one carrying out military research
a person who has extensive skill or knowledge in a particular field: a Treasury boffin

informal someone who is considered to be very clever, often to the exclusion of all non-academic interests

Origin of boffin

C20: of uncertain origin

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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