scoff

[skawf, skof]

See more synonyms for scoff on Thesaurus.com

verb (used without object)

to speak derisively; mock; jeer (often followed by at): If you can't do any better, don't scoff. Their efforts toward a peaceful settlement are not to be scoffed at.

verb (used with object)

to mock at; deride.

noun

an expression of mockery, derision, doubt, or derisive scorn; jeer.
an object of mockery or derision.

Origin of scoff

1300–50; Middle English scof; origin uncertain, but compare Old Norse skopa to scorn

Related formsscoff·er, nounscoff·ing·ly, adverb

Synonyms for scoff

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1. gibe. Scoff, jeer, sneer imply behaving with scornful disapproval toward someone or about something. To scoff is to express insolent doubt or derision, openly and emphatically: to scoff at a new invention. To jeer suggests expressing disapproval and scorn more loudly, coarsely, and unintelligently than in scoffing: The crowd jeered when the batter struck out. To sneer is to show by facial expression or tone of voice ill-natured contempt or disparagement: He sneered unpleasantly in referring to his opponent's misfortunes.

Antonyms for scoff

3. praise.

scoff

[skawf, skof]Slang.

verb (used with or without object)

to eat voraciously.

noun

food; grub.

Origin of scoff

First recorded in 1855–60; earlier scaff; origin uncertain

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for scoffing

sneering, caustic, sharp, acid, scorching, offensive, corrosive, bitter, evil, disparaging, mocking, cutting, carping, hostile, disillusioned, jeering, biting, mordant, backhanded, mean

Examples from the Web for scoffing

Contemporary Examples of scoffing

“People were telling horrendous stories and he was laughing in his box and scoffing,” she says.
France Convicts Rwanda Genocidaire
Nina Strochlic
March 14, 2014

Historical Examples of scoffing

Miss Howes scoffed, it is true, but the scoffing was not convincing.
Thankful's Inheritance
Joseph C. Lincoln
A score of stories in proof were hurled at the scoffing Maimon.
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill
Just that I was wrong; and I admit freely that I was wrong in scoffing at the propinquity.
Masters of Space
Edward Elmer Smith
Scholar Phelps was too close to the truth to make me like it, because he was scoffing.
Highways in Hiding
George Oliver Smith
How then will scoffing readers scape this marke of a maledizant?
Shakespeare's Lost Years in London, 1586-1592
Arthur Acheson

British Dictionary definitions for scoffing

scoff

verb

(intr often foll by at) to speak contemptuously (about); express derision (for); mock
(tr) obsolete to regard with derision

noun

an expression of derision
an object of derision

Derived Formsscoffer, nounscoffing, adjectivescoffingly, adverb

Word Origin for scoff

C14: probably from Scandinavian; compare Old Frisian skof mockery, Danish skof, skuf jest

scoff

verb

to eat (food) fast and greedily; devour

noun

food or rations

Word Origin for scoff

C19: variant of scaff food; related to Afrikaans, Dutch schoft quarter of the day, one of the four daily meals

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 scoffing

scoff

mid-14c., "jest, make light of something;" mid-15c., "make fun of, mock," from the noun meaning "contemptuous ridicule" (c.1300), from a Scandinavian source, cf. Old Norse skaup, skop "mockery, ridicule," Middle Danish skof "jest, mockery;" perhaps from Proto-Germanic *skub-, *skuf- (cf. Old English scop "poet," Old High German scoph "fiction, sport, jest, derision"), from PIE *skeubh- "to shove" (see shove (v.)).