goofy
Americanadjective
adjective
-
foolish; silly; stupid
-
(of teeth) sticking out; protruding
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of goofy
Explanation
Anything goofy is ridiculous and cute, like a squirrel on a skateboard or a big football player snuggling a teddy bear after every touch down. Goofy things are often well-intentioned but weird. Being awkward, telling dumb jokes and stories, or wearing crazy clothes are all great ways to be goofy. A goofy smile is sweet, unless you’re in England where it means you have big crooked teeth. Goofy, the dopey Disney dog who is all of these things, was created in 1929 when the word was brand new. It comes from a variation on the English dialect goff, "foolish clown."
Vocabulary lists containing goofy
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:
The scene is goofy, weirdly enchanting and doesn’t entirely make sense, yet it’s a fun hang.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 11, 2026
Variety magazine was also impressed by his stage presence, external, writing: "Styles is a one-in-millions performer, with a hurricane-force charm that's dashing and sexy and goofy at the same time."
From BBC ● Sep. 10, 2026
Michigan boils on and every college football podcast on Earth will have something to bicker about until Lane Kiffin does another goofy thing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026
The goofy, R-rated “Starship Troopers” famously tanked domestically among adults, but was a notable hit among teen boys, who sneaked into the flick in droves.
From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026
“And you, too, I hear,” Reg said, his lip curling up in a goofy grin.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
And if her goofier choices were unanimously refuted as artistic inferiority, we’d never get the chance to see her bounce from “Babygirl” to “Holland” to playing an Italian forensic pathologist in “Scarpetta.”
From Salon ● Mar. 22, 2026
Bigger and goofier than the 2022 hit, “M3GAN 2.0” is content to be this summer’s fidget spinner: an amusement soon forgotten.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 26, 2025
There’s humor here, too, the interactions goofier than they are gritty.
From New York Times ● May 5, 2023
The goofier “Shazam!,” which cost closer to $100 million to make, opened with $53.5 million in ticket sales and wound up an over-achieving success with $366 million worldwide.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 23, 2022
But where Stewart’s comedy on the series tended to be political, Zelensky’s sometimes veered into much goofier territory — more like Jimmy Fallon.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 28, 2022
The French have given us Delacroix, Debussy, Claire Denis and Simone de Beauvoir, along with some of the goofiest of goofball comedies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 21, 2026
He apologised for a follow-up track he released promising to "humble" Kendrick, saying it was the "lamest, goofiest" thing he'd recorded and was a "mis-step".
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2024
“It was probably well-intended, but this whole thing is just the goofiest thing I’ve ever seen,” Kirk said of Nebraska’s split system.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 9, 2024
“It was the goofiest concept in the world, but they said everything straight-faced,” says Brian Le of director-writers The Daniels’ pitch to them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2023
Then I throw my shoulders back and give the biggest, goofiest grin I can manage without my face hurting too bad.
From "Popcorn" by Rob Harrell
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.
