boob
1 Americannoun
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a stupid person; fool; dunce.
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British. a blunder; mistake.
verb (used without object)
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boobs,
present (3rd person singular)
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boobed,
past participle, past
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boobing
present participle
noun
noun
-
an ignorant or foolish person; booby
-
an embarrassing mistake; blunder
-
a female breast
verb
noun
adjective
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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boobsimple
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boobssimple
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have boobedperfect
-
has boobedperfect
-
am boobingprogressive
-
are boobingprogressive
-
is boobingprogressive
-
have been boobingperfect progressive
-
has been boobingperfect progressive
Past
-
boobedsimple
-
had boobedperfect
-
was boobingprogressive
-
were boobingprogressive
-
had been boobingperfect progressive
Future
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
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:
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’m proud that I have no vanity in my hair or Botox or plastic surgery or a boob job at this point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 25, 2024
"I didn't start doing my face until I was in my 40s. I had a boob job, but I didn't even have fillers," she said, warning it is "damaging to your body".
From BBC ● Mar. 27, 2024
“We worked so much at night, and she would sit around and watch the boob tube,” Warner admitted.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2022
“Good question. I’m the idiot box. I’m the TV. I’m the all-seeing eye and the world of the cathode ray. I’m the boob tube. I’m the little shrine the family gathers to adore.”
From "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman
As the now-famous line from "Fleabag" goes, "Women are born with pain built in. It's our physical destiny — period pains, sore boobs, childbirth. We carry it within ourselves throughout our lives."
From Salon ● Feb. 5, 2021
The “Scheananigans” podcast host continued: "After going through the miscarriage and knowing those signs...it was comforting knowing, 'Okay, you're not spotting, you're not cramping, you still feel pregnant, you're still tired, your boobs still hurt.'"
From Fox News ● Oct. 28, 2020
On season 6, episode 18, it was revealed that George’s father, Frank, had something he wanted to get off his chest but couldn’t: man boobs.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 12, 2020
“We make bras for two boobs, no boobs and new boobs,” said Donofree, who founded her company after seeing only medicinal looking or uncomfortable bras catering to women with breast cancer.
From Washington Times ● Feb. 19, 2020
I got my period after most of my friends, and wore a training bra before I had boobs to support.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
Sandpaper bought, dinner eaten and baby boobed, I rush back to the theater, sign in, and go about redoing my hair and makeup.
From New York Times ● Oct. 5, 2011
There is a brief moment of panic when he jokes that Canada, his home nation, is "better" than America – a glance to his bodyguard, present throughout, to make sure he hasn't boobed.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 3, 2010
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.
