spoof
Americannoun
-
spoofs
plural
-
a mocking imitation of someone or something, usually light and good-humored; lampoon or parody.
The show was a spoof of college life.
-
a hoax; prank.
verb (used with object)
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spoofs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spoofed,
past participle, past
-
spoofing
present participle
-
to mock (something or someone) lightly and good-humoredly; kid.
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to fool by a hoax; play a trick on, especially one intended to deceive.
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to trick (electronic devices, as radar), by interrupting or otherwise corrupting data in order to avoid detection.
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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)
-
spoofs,
present (3rd person singular)
-
spoofed,
past participle, past
-
spoofing
present participle
noun
-
a mildly satirical mockery or parody; lampoon
a spoof on party politics
-
a good-humoured deception or trick; prank
verb
-
to indulge in a spoof of (a person or thing)
-
to communicate electronically under a false identity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
spoofsimple
-
spoofssimple
-
have spoofedperfect
-
has spoofedperfect
-
am spoofingprogressive
-
are spoofingprogressive
-
is spoofingprogressive
-
have been spoofingperfect progressive
-
has been spoofingperfect progressive
Past
-
spoofedsimple
-
had spoofedperfect
-
was spoofingprogressive
-
were spoofingprogressive
-
had been spoofingperfect progressive
Future
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.
Vocabulary lists containing spoof
Lesson 3
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The video, clearly fake, was a spoof of Sarkisian’s real-life choice to blow off an interview with Rowe in the aftermath of Texas’ win over the Buckeyes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
The full 60-second video was meant to spoof the horror movie “Obsession,” released earlier this summer, he said, but “missed the mark.”
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
He produced David Lynch’s 1980 drama “The Elephant Man,” while Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 horror classic “Psycho” inevitably calls to mind Brooks’ 1977 Hitchcock spoof “High Anxiety.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The brothers produced the 1950s-style spy spoof "OSS 117" series and cult comedy "Brice de Nice", as well as a thriller based on former French president Nicolas Sarkozy's rise to power, "Conquest".
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 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
In her fourth outing with Mr. Lanthimos, Emma Stone again shows an impressively daring quality in a grueling and degrading role, which spoofs today’s clichés about girlboss power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
A council is urging whoever is putting up tongue-in-cheek signs in a city to stop the spoofs, saying they could "mislead residents and cause confusion".
From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2025
Tech experts say that as A.I. tools become more accessible and easier to use, audio spoofs and videos with realistic avatars could be created in mere minutes.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Without giving too much away, let’s just say that the disorder in question spoofs the way personal trauma has come to be seen as a badge of authenticity.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 24, 2024
I can't say more without endangering the effect of Captain COKE'S ingenious shifts and spoofs.
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 153, October 17, 1917 by Various
While these calls typically appear to be from a UK mobile number, Fell said these numbers will be imitated, or spoofed, by the criminals behind the scam.
From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026
When a ship’s location system gets spoofed, the vessel appears in the wrong spot on digital maps, sometimes seeming to dart between locations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 14, 2026
“We usually rely on GPS for timing, but GPS is becoming increasingly prone to being spoofed or denied.”
From Barron's ● Feb. 17, 2026
The scene in which he torments his son by bouncing a basketball against his head was spoofed by Mike Myers' Dr Evil in the second Austin Powers film.
From BBC ● Feb. 16, 2026
I hope they didn't feel they had been spoofed, as Maeterlinck so basely spoofed them in The Blue Bird, by offering them a grown-ups' play "sicklied o'er with the pale cast of thought."
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Vol. 150, January 5, 1916 by Sir Owen Seaman
On Wednesday, OpenAI disclosed six new instances of its AI agents hiding their tracks, spoofing data and writing instructions to free themselves from constraints to escape the company’s control.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026
And where does he fit into the British tradition of spoofing politicians?
From BBC ● Aug. 13, 2026
However, some ships may be turning their trackers off or broadcasting a false position, a practice known as "spoofing".
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
The shadow fleet, using methods like signal spoofing, is testing the blockade, though Centcom reported no ships got through in 24 hours.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 15, 2026
A 1983 Usenet posting by Alan Hastings and Steve Tarr spoofing the "Star Wars" movies in hackish terms.
From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Guy L. Steele
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