spoof

American  

[spoof] / spuf /

noun

1. a mocking imitation of someone or something, usually light and good-humored; lampoon or parody.

   The show was a spoof of college life.

2. a hoax; prank.

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verb (used with object)

1. to mock (something or someone) lightly and good-humoredly; kid.

2. to fool by a hoax; play a trick on, especially one intended to deceive.

3. to trick (electronic devices, as radar), by interrupting or otherwise corrupting data in order to avoid detection.

4. Digital Technology. to misrepresent (the identity of a party or the origin of data) in a communication, in order to misdirect digital authentication or other security measures: Suspects spoofed caller ID when they phoned in the anonymous threats.

   Hackers spoofed the IP to fool the network into providing access.

   Suspects spoofed caller ID when they phoned in the anonymous threats.

   The sender’s email address was spoofed to fool the company’s spam filters.

verb (used without object)

1. to scoff at something lightly and good-humoredly; kid.

   The campus paper was always spoofing about the regulations.

spoof British  

/ spuːf /

noun

1. a mildly satirical mockery or parody; lampoon

   a spoof on party politics

2. a good-humoured deception or trick; prank

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verb

1. to indulge in a spoof of (a person or thing)

2. to communicate electronically under a false identity

Other Word Forms

• spoofer noun

Etymology

Origin of spoof

First recorded in 1885–90; after a game invented and named by Arthur Roberts (1852–1933), British comedian

Explanation

A spoof is a funny version of something, like a movie or a book. The classic comedy "Young Frankenstein" is a spoof of earlier, serious film adaptations of the famous novel. You can also call a spoof a parody. A spoof borrows material from the original, copying the style and characteristics that make it obvious what the subject of the spoof is. Movies like "Spaceballs," a spoof of the "Star Wars" films, and "Scary Movie," which spoofs the entire horror film genre, are great examples. Spoof originally meant "hoax," and it comes from a game, Spouf, invented by a British comedian in 1884.

Example Sentences

Lee Marvin previously won for portraying twin gunfighters Kid Shelleen and Tim Strawn in the 1965 western spoof “Cat Ballou.”

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 15, 2026

Some ships purposely spoof their own signals to hide from Iran.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 14, 2026

Innes said we could not be sure whether all of the pages' thousands of followers were real people, adding page owners often used bots to "spoof the algorithm" and get content into people's feeds.

From BBC • Mar. 9, 2026

He praises the "deft deployment of slightly risque jokes" as well as a Bridgerton spoof starring Miss Piggy, saying it's a "return to basics, and all the more joyous for it".

From BBC • Feb. 4, 2026

This reminded Jonah of a spoof he’d seen once in MAD magazine that was supposed to teach kids how to lie convincingly.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

Related Words

• burlesque
• caricature
• parody
• prank
• satire