goof
Americanverb (used without object)
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goofs,
present (3rd person singular)
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goofed,
past participle, past
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goofing
present participle
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to blunder; make an error, misjudgment, etc.
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to waste or kill time; evade work or responsibility (often followed by off oraround ).
Exam week is not a time to goof off. We goofed around till train time.
verb (used with object)
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goofs,
present (3rd person singular)
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goofed,
past participle, past
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goofing
present participle
noun
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goofs
plural
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a foolish or stupid person.
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a mistake or blunder, especially one due to carelessness.
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a source of fun or cause for amusement.
We short-sheeted his bunk just for a goof.
verb phrase
noun
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a foolish error or mistake
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a stupid person
verb
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to bungle (something); botch
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(intr; often foll by about or around) to fool (around); mess (about)
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(tr) to dope with drugs
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to waste time; idle
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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goofsimple
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goofssimple
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have goofedperfect
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has goofedperfect
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am goofingprogressive
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are goofingprogressive
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is goofingprogressive
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have been goofingperfect progressive
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has been goofingperfect progressive
Past
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goofedsimple
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had goofedperfect
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was goofingprogressive
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were goofingprogressive
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had been goofingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of goof
1915–20; apparently variant of obsolete goff dolt < Middle French goffe awkward, stupid
Explanation
A goof is a silly fool. If you can't stop telling jokes, even after your math class has started, your teacher will think you're a goof. There are many alternate words for goof, including dimwit, dummy, and nitwit. In other words, you should only call someone a goof if you mean to insult their intelligence. The mistakes a goof — or anyone — makes can also be called goofs: "I made such a goof when I was mixing this cake batter." Goof is a 1916 American invention, probably influenced by the English dialect goff, "foolish clown."
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:
Assigning in-class lessons on devices invites kids to rush through them so they can goof off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
I think pretty early on, we were like, “Let’s goof on Alex for a little while in this conspiracy world.”
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
That last one, certainly; Jackie is a sweet, innocent goof and Guido is very funny playing him.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 27, 2025
"This is reputation management of the highest order," he wrote, criticising the "softest editing" which painted Sir Jacob wrongly as a "harmless gosh-and-golly goof".
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2024
“I like for goof around,” Leo says now.
From "Clairboyance" by Kristiana Kahakauwila
He goofs off with the ball kids, who are closer in age to him than any of the tennis pooh-bahs in charge.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2025
It also has a few driving location goofs that make Californians giggle.
From New York Times ● Apr. 15, 2024
That may make it easier to get correct answers, but also can make the stakes higher if the AI goofs and makes a user uncomfortable or botches financial data.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 13, 2023
By this point, I’ve made countless gardening goofs, big and small, and those mistakes have given me a healthy perspective on our limited power over nature.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 22, 2023
“I heard you. Maybe I’m too old to get mad, or maybe what you consider goofs aren’t what / consider goofs—it’s just stuff that happens.”
From "Ruby Holler" by Sharon Creech
Colbert often goofed on his public image with mock outrage over perceived offenses, a carry-over from his long-running shtick on “The Colbert Report.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 21, 2026
The brothers had long goofed around playing football in the backyard, even devising creative games while bouncing on the trampoline.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2024
In down times, they played card games and goofed around, singing patriotic songs, recording videos and taking selfies.
From New York Times ● Oct. 29, 2023
"Ecowas goofed, the Nigerian president also goofed," said Prof Khalifa Dikwa, an academic at the University of Maiduguri and a member of an influential group of elders in northern Nigeria.
From BBC ● Aug. 7, 2023
And every time she played it over she goofed on it like it was so way out.
From "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers
Kalshi, which dragged the hermetic Pete Sampras out for a weird ad, actually had its name on another video goofing on attendees who didn’t know basic stuff about tennis.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026
That problem-solving begins long before Saturdays, when Smith hones his particular set of skills in sessions that might otherwise look like goofing off.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
Most times I feel like I’m just goofing, but that felt like, ‘Oh, I’m an actor.’
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 10, 2026
Geisel lasted less than a year in Oxford, but Jones says "once he's hooked up with Helen" he spent his time "travelling, goofing off and kind of really doing anything but his studies".
From BBC ● Mar. 2, 2026
“Just goofing around with some of my cousins. Too hot to be anywhere b-b-but in the water. What’re you d-d-doing, fishing or sleeping?”
From "Mississippi Trial, 1955" by Chris Crowe
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.
