Other Word Forms
- huffily adverb
- huffiness noun
Etymology
Origin of huffy
Explanation
Don’t get all huffy, or offended or irritated, just because you didn’t know this definition. Like the wolf who huffed and puffed, anyone who’s huffy is easily upset. If everything you say to your sister seems to make her mad or hurt her feelings, you could say, "Stop being so huffy!" A huffy person might blow the hair off her forehead and stomp away. Don’t get mad, but Huffy is also the brand name of a cool bicycle. This adjective has been around since the 1600s, from huff, which first meant "exhale," and later "bluster with indignation."
Vocabulary lists containing huffy
Bridge to Terabithia
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Mad Infinitum: Synonyms for "Angry"
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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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.
They could also vote on huffy resolutions declaring their distaste for Boasberg et al.
From Slate • Mar. 22, 2025
If you argue with the obvious implications, they'll just get huffy and deny that's what they meant.
From Salon • Jan. 10, 2025
However, five weeks later she developed "huffy" breathing and in the days following was diagnosed with GBS after deteriorating in hospital.
From BBC • Feb. 26, 2024
During the course of the TV show “Frasier,” its main character was described as pompous, loquacious, overanalytical, pushy, pretentious, bossy, huffy, vain … and those are just the words used by his loved ones.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 27, 2023
“Well,” Addie goes, all huffy, “it’s about time you started paying attention.”
From "The Misfits" by James Howe
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.
