miff
Americannoun
-
petulant displeasure; ill humor.
-
a petty quarrel.
verb (used with object)
-
miffs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
miffed,
past participle, past
-
miffing
present participle
verb
noun
-
a petulant mood
-
a petty quarrel
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
miffsimple
-
miffssimple
-
have miffedperfect
-
has miffedperfect
-
am miffingprogressive
-
are miffingprogressive
-
is miffingprogressive
-
have been miffingperfect progressive
-
has been miffingperfect progressive
Past
-
miffedsimple
-
had miffedperfect
-
was miffingprogressive
-
were miffingprogressive
-
had been miffingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of miff
1615–25; perhaps imitative of exclamation of disgust; compare German muffen to sulk
Explanation
The verb miff is an informal way to say "annoy." If your sister's constant humming is starting to drive you crazy, you can tell her it miffs you. Long ago, the word miff was also used to mean "huff" or "pique," so you might have described yourself as "in a miff" about your sister's tuneless humming. These days, you're more likely to see the adjective miffed describing someone who's irked: "I am so miffed that none of my friends came to my party on time." Experts guess that miff comes from the annoyed sound you might make when you're really miffed.
Vocabulary lists containing miff
The Sound and the Fury: Synonyms for "Anger"
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A Mighty Long Way
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The Red Car to Hollywood
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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:
But then he’ll dig out a joke and do something that might hurt his business — and miff his investors — because, well, he thinks that something is the right thing to do.
From New York Times ● Oct. 6, 2012
Half the parish has some miff against the other half.
From Two Christmas Celebrations by Theodore Parker
But he soon came back, in a great miff, and offered to sell the whole of his fine new outfit for just one half what it cost him.
From Gaut Gurley by D. P. Thompson
Mary took a miff one Sunday, And so I put on the "blue."
From The Feast of the Virgins and Other Poems by Hanford Lennox Gordon
He, however, is the victim of all the caprices of the company, from the prima donna, who in a miff kicks about his partition in a very piano cavatina, to each of the bandy-legged choristers.
From Physiology of The Opera by John H. Swaby
Then Jordan miffs it by not asking her mother, father, or her brothers for their blessing to propose to JoJo.
From Time ● Aug. 2, 2016
With the frank outpourings of friendship and confidence; with the lavishness of mutual praise in youth, we enjoyed and joined in merry badinage, in miffs and flattery.
From Brook Farm Historic and Personal Memoirs by John Thomas Codman
I have heard the secret history of a great many travelling parties that began very brightly, but ended in heart-burnings, miffs, and all sorts of troubles.
From Rollo in Naples by Jacob Abbott
Developers are miffed by the delay, Burton said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 9, 2026
The crew of the Artemis II didn't seem too miffed by Glass Animal's confession, even starting their seventh day in space by listening to the band's 2019 collaboration with rapper Denzel Curry, Tokyo Drifting.
From BBC ● Apr. 10, 2026
"We started making shots," said Durant, a two-time NBA champion who launched his career with the Thunder franchise and heard boos from fans still miffed by his departure more than nine years ago.
From Barron's ● Feb. 8, 2026
A Gallup poll last year revealed that satisfaction with public education had reached a 24-year low, and people have good reason to be miffed.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026
Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn’t going at all the way he wanted.
From "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" by J.K. Rowling
In the end, Stone stuck with Fortune, but not without miffing Publisher Malcolm Forbes, who politely turned down later requests to use his private yacht.
From Time Magazine Archive
Insiders add that Snyder may have squelched his own chances by descending on the Today studio with big-star bravado, miffing the show's crew.
From Time Magazine Archive
We shan't be any nearer if we give mamma an opportunity of miffing away somewhere when we come.
From Somehow Good by William Frend De Morgan
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.
