guffaw
Americannoun
verb (used without object)
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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guffawsimple
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guffawssimple
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have guffawedperfect
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has guffawedperfect
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am guffawingprogressive
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are guffawingprogressive
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is guffawingprogressive
-
have been guffawingperfect progressive
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has been guffawingperfect progressive
Past
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guffawedsimple
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had guffawedperfect
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was guffawingprogressive
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were guffawingprogressive
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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
Instead of "Said": Words for Upbeat Banter
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The Hobbit
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Beowulf: A New Telling
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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
It’s typical of the home-state reporting corps to guffaw when their own governor is touted as a presidential candidate.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 14, 2025
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
A full-body guffaw, followed by her pointing at the screen and saying, “I know exactly what he means.”
From New York Times ● Dec. 20, 2023
I jerk back, startled, while he and Haymitch guffaw.
From "Catching Fire" by Suzanne Collins
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
Deydey was overcome with hilarity, and every time he tried to explain to LaPautre, he sank into helpless sobs and guffaws.
From "The Birchbark House" by Louise Erdrich
Still, I guffawed when Becket popped back into his present-day cell to poke fun at his audience, the Catholic priest: “The last thing the Church wanted was an investigation,” he says with a smirk.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 18, 2026
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
Bradford guffawed, even though he knew this was real.
From "Scythe" by Neal Shusterman
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
The film, directed by Neil Berkeley, shows him puttering around his house, playing with his children and guffawing at his wife’s jokes.
From New York Times ● Apr. 12, 2022
Since 1970, Brown has been a near-constant presence in the halls of Jefferson’s Capitol — neck slung with cameras, Canon raised to his eye for a quick shot of lawmakers huddling, scratching, yawning, guffawing.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 10, 2022
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 know what to do,” Chief said, and his guests laughed, three guffawing, knowing men.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
