oaf

[ ohf ]

/ oʊf /

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.

RELATED WORDS

Nearby words

Origin of oaf

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

SYNONYMS FOR oaf

1 churl, boor.

2 dolt, ninny.

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR oaf ON THESAURUS.COM

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

Can be confusedoaf oath

Synonym study

1. See boorish.

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

Examples from the Web for oafish

The political mutterings of oafish celebrities are best ignored.
Steven Seagal and the League of Hollywood Halfwits|Michael Moynihan|June 6, 2013|DAILY BEAST
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|DAILY BEAST
He looked like an oafish clod, even viewed objectively, and Forrester was making no efforts in that direction.
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

Didn't he have enough self-control just to ignore Symes and his oafish insults?
Pagan Passions|Gordon Randall Garrett

British Dictionary definitions for oafish

oaf

/ (əʊf) /

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 (1 of 2)

oafish

adj.

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

Word Origin and History for oafish (1 of 2)

oaf

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.