guffaw
Americannoun
-
guffaws
plural
verb (used without object)
-
guffaws,
present (3rd person singular)
-
guffawed,
past participle, past
-
guffawing
present participle
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
guffawsimple
-
guffawssimple
-
have guffawedperfect
-
has guffawedperfect
-
am guffawingprogressive
-
are guffawingprogressive
-
is guffawingprogressive
-
have been guffawingperfect progressive
-
has been guffawingperfect progressive
Past
-
guffawedsimple
-
had guffawedperfect
-
was guffawingprogressive
-
were guffawingprogressive
-
had been guffawingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of guffaw
First recorded in 1710–20; perhaps imitative
Explanation
A guffaw is a belly laugh: a laugh that bubbles up with good feeling and plenty of volume. At the end of a stressful day of work, it’s good to have some guffaws with your friends. Guffaw operates just like the word laugh: you can give a guffaw, or you can guffaw. It comes from the Scottish word gawf, which is onomatopoetic, meaning that it’s spelled the way it sounds. Imagine a big happy Scotsman snorting "gawf, gawf, gawf" at the end of a joke, and you’ll know what a guffaw is.
Vocabulary lists containing guffaw
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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:
You can never quite relax, because you're always just waiting for the raise of the eyebrow, the suppressed guffaw, the uninvited joke, whatever.
From BBC ● Apr. 18, 2026
But even now, the news will occasionally let you get off a chuckle or guffaw, even if it isn’t always from your better nature.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2025
“You know that laugh,” he said of his wife’s great, gusting guffaw, which critics have sought to weaponize.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2024
Grant’s commitment to his dastardly rogue barely goes beyond his cravat — he’d rather guffaw than feign gravitas.
From New York Times ● Mar. 30, 2023
Xenocrates looked at her in utter disbelief, and then suddenly released a guffaw that he tried to stifle but couldn’t.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
And while much of the movie induces sidesplitting guffaws, Tremaine said that producer and co-creator Spike Jonze was eager to highlight the sensitive beats shared between the cast.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026
They realized that these comments got a rise out of the girls and drew guffaws from the other boys; Amanda saw them looking around the classroom for reactions after saying something particularly shocking.
From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2025
"Someone wrote their number on a tissue the other day and I was like, 'Oh no, you're just not my type'," she guffaws.
From BBC ● Sep. 29, 2025
He yells, plots, spills coffee, turns dad jokes into gut-punch guffaws, and makes the entire auditorium fold itself into a ball, shaking with laughter as much as they shake with anxiety.
From Salon ● May 12, 2025
In the midst of the ladies’ shrieky laughter and the men’s guffaws and haws, Dr. Slaughter hurried in.
From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns
It is no exaggeration to say I guffawed my way through it.
From Salon ● Dec. 26, 2023
At various points, others groaned and guffawed at Mr Gaetz's comments.
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2023
“Just your name,” the girl replied, and Capaldi guffawed.
From New York Times ● May 6, 2023
I lost track of how many times I guffawed during the first two episodes, which also made me tear up quite a bit.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 17, 2021
The audience guffawed at this spontaneous addition to the script.
From "The Shakespeare Stealer" by Gary L. Blackwood
As one guffawing TikToker put it, “Tim Burton was so tired of people saying that he don’t be putting Black people in his movies that he said, ‘Here!
From Salon ● Sep. 15, 2024
Many sought the community that came from marching together or sharing the party’s lager or guffawing at the same political cartoons.
From New York Times ● Oct. 29, 2021
Asked by Jost if his parents would be “upset” about his sexuality, Yang’s Oompa Loompa gave the guffawing audience some insight into his hometown of “Loompa Land,” which apparently is “not as progressive.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2021
You can practically hear Prose guffawing over these excerpts; they provide a wonderful excuse for this superb stylist to dress up like a literary tramp.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 6, 2021
They spilled the contents right at our door and left, guffawing like madmen.
From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
