oaf

[ ohf ]

/ oʊf /

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See synonyms for: oaf / oafishness / oafish on Thesaurus.com

noun

a clumsy, stupid person; lout.

a simpleton; dunce; blockhead.

Archaic.

a deformed or mentally deficient child.
a changeling.

OTHER WORDS FOR oaf

1 churl, boor.

2 dolt, ninny.

See synonyms for oaf on Thesaurus.com

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Origin of oaf

1615–25; variant of auf,Middle English alfe,Old English ælfelf; cognate with German Alp nightmare

synonym study for oaf

1. See boorish.

OTHER WORDS FROM oaf

oafish, adjectiveoaf·ish·ly, adverboaf·ish·ness, noun

WORDS THAT MAY BE CONFUSED WITH oaf

oaf , oath

Words nearby oaf

NZSE, NZSO, o', O2O, OA, oaf, oafish, Oahu, oak, oak apple, Oak-apple Day

How to use oaf in a sentence

He’s clearly a dim bulb, there’s very little going on upstairs, and he’s something of an oaf.
Tina Brown Breaks Down the Biggest Royal Family Revelations From Her New Book|Charlie Campbell / London|April 25, 2022|Time
The big oaf is a couch potato, not a leader for the blind, or for the seeing.
Dog Books: Loving Dogs and Michael Vick’s Crimes Reviewed|Elizabeth Hess|November 10, 2010|DAILY BEAST
Shakespeare refers to elves as ouphes, which is the same word as oaf and was formerly spelt aulf.
Archaic England|Harold Bayley
Gerda was out there still, with her brother and the oaf—whose name, Forrester had discovered, was Alvin Sherdlap.
Pagan Passions|Gordon Randall Garrett

Strange to say, the oaf seemed to be shedding tears and the quick sympathy went out from Emily's bosom, in spite of the past.
The Incendiary|W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
Then the oaf rose and looked down upon his work, with a childish pleasure.
The Incendiary|W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy
The oaf began muttering in a low, indistinct murmur, like one soothing a child.
The Incendiary|W. A. (William Augustine) Leahy

British Dictionary definitions for oaf

oaf

/ (əʊf) /

noun

a stupid or loutish person

Derived forms of oaf

oafish, adjectiveoafishly, adverboafishness, noun

Word Origin for oaf

C17: variant of Old English ælf elf

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