poof

¹ American  

[poof, poof] / pʊf, puf /

interjection

1. (used to express or indicate a sudden disappearance).

   Poof! The magician made the rabbit disappear.

2. pooh.

---

poof ² American  

[poof, poof] / puf, pʊf /

Sometimes pooff; also pouf;

noun

British Slang.

poofs plural

1. Extremely Disparaging and Offensive. a contemptuous term used to refer to a gay man.

2. Offensive. an effeminate male.

---

poof British  

/ pʊf, puːf /

noun

1. derogatory a male homosexual

---

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• poofy
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• poofs
  plural

Etymology

Origin of poof¹

First recorded in 1815–25

Origin of poof²

First recorded in 1840–50; from French pouffe “puff”; see origin at pouf ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

poof poofs

Oracle, on which a significant part of the family’s wealth depends, has seen a third of its market value go poof in 10 weeks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 2, 2025

Massive turnover in the C-suite, thousands of staff layoffs across international outposts, and billions of dollars of wealth gone poof.

From Slate ● Nov. 21, 2023

Pixar’s creative spark had apparently blown out — poof.

From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2023

"His house went up in 10 minutes. Two-storey house, eight bedrooms… poof," he said.

From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2023

He was roughly parent age and tall, with a poof of brown hair and sparkly gray eyes.

From "Breadcrumbs" by Anne Ursu

The dimly lit gallery fills with mist oozing from ceiling jets and glowing neon-green lasers cut through the fog, illuminating it along with wafting poofs of dust.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 22, 2023

This can be derailing at the best of times, but whenever Mei feels overwhelmed or something makes her feel uncomfortable, she "poofs" into a giant red panda.

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2022

A classic French poodle cut — with poofs of fur and a shaved face and legs — is a groomer's worst nightmare.

From Salon ● Jan. 3, 2022

Vocalizing delicately over a steady ambient current, Kelela evokes oceanic waterworlds instead of atmospheric poofs.

From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2019

I am covered in dirt and little poofs of...I don’t want to know what.

From "Wayward Creatures" by Dayna Lorentz