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oaf

[ohf]

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SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR oaf ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a clumsy, stupid person; lout.

a simpleton; dunce; blockhead.

Archaic.

a deformed or mentally deficient child.
a changeling.

Origin of oaf

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

Related formsoaf·ish, adjectiveoaf·ish·ly, adverboaf·ish·ness, noun

Can be confusedoaf oath

Synonyms for oaf

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR oaf ON THESAURUS.COM

1. churl, boor. 2. dolt, ninny.

Synonym study

1. See boorish.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for oafish

bungling, dumb, gawky, graceless, half-witted, heavy-handed, idiotic, ignorant, inelegant, inept, lumbering, lumpish, moronic, simple, simpleminded, slow, uncoordinated, ungainly, unintelligent, bumbling

Examples from the Web for oafish

Contemporary Examples of oafish

The political mutterings of oafish celebrities are best ignored.
Steven Seagal and the League of Hollywood Halfwits
Michael Moynihan
June 6, 2013
It was an appropriate response: violent oafs should be fired from their university jobs for violent, oafish behavior.
How 1960s Radicals Ended Up Teaching Your Kids
Michael Moynihan
April 10, 2013

Historical Examples of oafish

Didn't he have enough self-control just to ignore Symes and his oafish insults?
Pagan Passions
Gordon Randall Garrett
He was blaming himself bitterly now for his oafish clumsiness in blurting out the news so abruptly.
The Adventures of Sally
P. G. Wodehouse
He looked like an oafish clod, even viewed objectively, and Forrester was making no efforts in that direction.
Pagan Passions
Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for oafish

oaf

noun

a stupid or loutish person

Derived Formsoafish, 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

Word Origin and History for oafish

adj.

1610s, from oaf + -ish. Related: Oafishly; oafishness.

oaf

n.

1620s, auf, oph (modern form from 1630s), "a changeling; a foolish child left by the fairies" [Johnson], from a Scandinavian source, cf. Norwegian alfr "silly person," in Old Norse, "elf" (see elf). Hence, "a misbegotten, deformed idiot." Until recently, some dictionaries still gave the plural as oaves.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper