boob

¹ American  

[boob] / bub /

noun

1. a stupid person; fool; dunce.

2. British. a blunder; mistake.

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verb (used without object)

boobs, present (3rd person singular) boobed, past participle, past boobing present participle

1. British. to blunder.

boob ² American  

[boob] / bub /

noun

Slang.

1. a female breast.

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boob ¹ British  

/ buːb /

noun

1. an ignorant or foolish person; booby

2. an embarrassing mistake; blunder

3. a female breast

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verb

1. (intr) to make a blunder

boob ² British  

/ buːb /

noun

1. a prison

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adjective

1. of poor quality, similar to that provided in prison

   boob coffee

Other Word Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

• boobing
  present
• boobed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• boob
  simple
• boobs
  simple
• have boobed
  perfect
• has boobed
  perfect
• am boobing
  progressive
• are boobing
  progressive
• is boobing
  progressive
• have been boobing
  perfect progressive
• has been boobing
  perfect progressive

Past

• boobed
  simple
• had boobed
  perfect
• was boobing
  progressive
• were boobing
  progressive
• had been boobing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will boob
  simple
• will have boobed
  perfect
• will be boobing
  progressive
• will have been boobing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of boob¹

1905–10, back formation from booby ¹

Origin of boob²

First recorded in 1945–50; apparently back formation from booby ²

Explanation

Boob is a word for a woman's breast — it's also a word for an idiot. So if you're staring at a lady's boobs, you probably look like a boob. This is a very common slang word that's not really inappropriate. Nobody is going to get too mad about you using the word boob, though breast is definitely more anatomically correct. The other meaning of boob is similar to dope, dumbbell, dummy, pinhead, and numbskull. This meaning is also pretty harmless. Calling someone a boob is only a little insulting — not quite fighting words.

Example Sentences

"I've embraced my boob journey, it's something that's now part of my sporting journey."

From BBC • Jan. 8, 2026

These babies even share the mighty boob: breaking a "rule" of mammal biology, naked mole rats do not have just around half as many babies as they have mammary glands.

From Salon • May 11, 2025

I was mortified,” said Katie Sturino, 43, a popular content creator and influencer who founded Megababe, a cosmetics company that sells products that help with chafing thighs, boob sweat and body odor.

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 20, 2023

“We worked so much at night, and she would sit around and watch the boob tube,” Warner admitted.

From Washington Post • Dec. 6, 2022

And even harder to imagine my mother calling Malcolm a boob.

From "Confessions of a Murder Suspect" by James Patterson

Related Words

• nitwit