Dictionary.com
definitions
  • synonyms

guff

[guhff]
See more synonyms for guff on Thesaurus.com
noun Informal.
  1. empty or foolish talk; nonsense.
  2. insolent talk.
Show More

Origin of guff

First recorded in 1815–25; perhaps imitative
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

hogwashcraprubbishgarbagebunkbaloneyhooeyfoolishnessdrivelpoppycockbullbunkumflapdoodle

Examples from the Web for guff

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • Was love really what it was cracked up to be, or had the novelists handed us guff?

    The Harbor

    Ernest Poole

  • But there are things in it that are just guff, Henry, just guff.

    Changing Winds

    St. John G. Ervine

  • Pipe down that guff, you unlicked cub, or I'll crown you with a proof-bar!

    Spacehounds of IPC

    Edward Elmer Smith

  • Let's face a few facts, Thorndyke, and stop tossing this guff.

    Highways in Hiding

    George Oliver Smith

  • Fred Macklin interrupted, "Look, Dad, why are we bothering with all this guff?"

    Highways in Hiding

    George Oliver Smith

British Dictionary definitions for guff

guff

noun
  1. slang ridiculous or insolent talk
Show More

Word Origin

C19: imitative of empty talk; compare dialect Norwegian gufs puff of wind
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

Word Origin and History for guff

n.

"empty talk, nonsense," 1888, from earlier sense of "puff of air" (1825), of imitative origin.

Show More
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper