goof

[ goof ]

/ guf /

Slang.

verb (used without object)

to blunder; make an error, misjudgment, etc.

to waste or kill time; evade work or responsibility (often followed by off or around): Exam week is not a time to goof off. We goofed around till train time.

verb (used with object)

to spoil or make a mess of (something); botch; bungle (often followed by up): You really goofed up the job.

noun

a foolish or stupid person.

a mistake or blunder, especially one due to carelessness.

a source of fun or cause for amusement: We short-sheeted his bunk just for a goof.

Verb Phrases

goof on, Slang. to tease, ridicule, or mock; make fun of.

Words nearby goof

goody two shoes, goody two-shoes, goody-goody, goodyear, gooey, goof, goof on, goof up, goof-off, goof-up, goofball

Origin of goof

1915–20; apparently variant of obsolete goff dolt < Middle French goffe awkward, stupid

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for goof

“She sort of plays the goof a little bit and he plays off her,” says Clemente.
Bright Future for Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly, Election Night Star|Howard Kurtz|November 12, 2012|DAILY BEAST
Preceding Die Antwoord, Lakers star Ron Artest joined Kimmel, and demonstrated how to do a hoax, or an act, or a goof, badly.
Too Explicit for YouTube|Richard Rushfield|October 21, 2010|DAILY BEAST
And on Tuesday, admissions director Mae Brown apologized for the goof, calling it an “administrative error.”
So, Who Got In This Year?|Kathleen Kingsbury|April 2, 2009|DAILY BEAST
It was the external field around the hull that had decided to goof off this time.
Unwise Child|Gordon Randall Garrett

He didnt know which way to turn, because he didnt know which way the goof was going to pull up.
Test Pilot|David Goodger (goodger@python.org)
What kind of psionic force would it take to make so many people in the United States goof up the way they were doing?
Occasion for Disaster|Gordon Randall Garrett
Or was p. 39 this all goof ball sentiment in his own mind, to make himself feel real modest?
The Planet Strappers|Raymond Zinke Gallun

British Dictionary definitions for goof

goof

/ (ɡuːf) informal /

noun

a foolish error or mistake

a stupid person

verb

to bungle (something); botch

(intr; often foll by about or around) to fool (around); mess (about)

(tr) to dope with drugs

(intr often foll by off) US and Canadian to waste time; idle

Word Origin for goof

C20: probably from (dialect) goff simpleton, from Old French goffe clumsy, from Italian goffo, of obscure 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

goof

verb (used without object)

verb (used with object)

noun

Verb Phrases

Words related to goof

Words nearby goof

Origin of goof

Example sentences from the Web for goof

British Dictionary definitions for goof

noun

verb

Word Origin for goof