duff
1 Americannoun
noun
verb (used with object)
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duffs,
present (3rd person singular)
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duffed,
past participle, past
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duffing
present participle
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to give a deliberately deceptive appearance to; misrepresent; fake.
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British. (in golf ) to misplay (a golf ball), especially to misjudge one's swing so that the club strikes the ground behind the ball before hitting it.
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Australian.
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to steal (cattle).
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(formerly) to alter the brand on (stolen cattle).
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to cheat someone.
noun
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organic matter in various stages of decomposition on the floor of the forest.
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fine, dry coal, especially anthracite.
verb
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slang to change the appearance of or give a false appearance to (old or stolen goods); fake
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slang to steal (cattle), altering the brand
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Also: sclaff. informal golf to bungle (a shot) by hitting the ground behind the ball
adjective
noun
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a thick flour pudding, often flavoured with currants, citron, etc, and boiled in a cloth bag
plum duff
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slang pregnant
noun
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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duffsimple
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duffssimple
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have duffedperfect
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has duffedperfect
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am duffingprogressive
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are duffingprogressive
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is duffingprogressive
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have been duffingperfect progressive
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has been duffingperfect progressive
Past
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duffedsimple
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had duffedperfect
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was duffingprogressive
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were duffingprogressive
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had been duffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of duff1
First recorded in 1885–90; expressive word, perhaps akin to doup
Origin of duff2
First recorded in 1830–40; dialectal variant ( Scots, North England) of dough
Origin of duff3
First recorded in 1830–40; back formation from duffer, in the slang senses “something inferior or counterfeit” or “a peddler of inferior goods”
Origin of duff4
First recorded in 1835–45; originally Scots dialect; perhaps metaphorical use of duff 2, by association with Scots dowf “decayed, rotten,” deaf “(of soil) unproductive, springy to the tread”; see dowf
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:
Even when individual World Cups have resulted in duff events, there have still been magical moments produced.
From BBC ● Oct. 4, 2023
The duff — needles, branches and other plant detritus — is 2 to 3 feet deep in some parts of the Angeles National Forest, he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2022
Fire can smolder below the surface in the duff for weeks.
From New York Times ● Aug. 20, 2022
Conditions today are on the cusp, he warns me as he grabs damp duff from beneath a stand of alders and stuffs it into a garbage bag.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 19, 2022
When he got to the pines he knelt and laid him in the gritty duff and covered him with the blankets and sat watching him.
From "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy
But, perhaps most importantly, she’s here to remind others to get off their duffs and out into the world, no matter their ages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2021
Berger duffs one out of the sand, and Koepka can’t scramble the par from the fringe.
From The Guardian ● Sep. 25, 2021
But nobody will ever discover those capabilities if Siri duffs the basics on an equally regular basis.
From The Verge ● Sep. 14, 2020
But it’s likely to boost CrossFit studio memberships much in the same way that “The Biggest Loser” inspired couch potatoes to get off their duffs and join a gym.
From Salon ● Jan. 3, 2019
“We aren’t just going to sit around on our fat duffs and do nothing, are we?”
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
"Once I'd duffed that chip on to the green at 18 to about eight feet, I felt pretty safe from there," he said with a smile.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2025
I’m like, ‘Yeah, you’re right, I just duffed the crap out of that chip.’
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 4, 2021
That’s twice the Wallabies have duffed the restart, this time it’s Koroibete who’s the culprit.
From The Guardian ● Oct. 11, 2019
My only real concern was when they duffed a shot a few yards into the infield and instinctively chased after it, narrowly avoiding shanked 8-irons that screamed by their heads.
From Golf Digest ● Jun. 16, 2019
Still, my aversion to lending the horse, or having him duffed, compelled me to keep his performance up to the highest standard compatible with justice to himself.
From Such Is Life by Furphy, Joseph
BROADCASTER: He went into his previous Masters duffing chips all over the place, yet he was fine when he got there, so you can never tell with him.
From Golf Digest ● Mar. 13, 2018
England's agony has gone on, day after day, like that same golfer being forced to play round after failing round, an Open every week, duffing drives and missing putts, swing in pieces, galleries guffawing.
From BBC ● Dec. 29, 2013
While they ought to be duffing up Macedonia at home, Croatia must negotiate a potentially awkward match in Wales, who could make life difficult for Igor Stimac's side.
From The Guardian ● Mar. 24, 2013
The opener was a touch didactic, but Jay and Lynn make a decent stab at moving with the times, slipping in iPads and a Paxmanesque TV duffing for Hacker.
From The Guardian ● Nov. 27, 2012
Certainly I've done a lot of genuine duffing in love; but do bear out your own expressed opinion of the work by saving it from failure.
From It Happened in Egypt by Williamson, C. N. (Charles Norris)
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.
