spoof
Americannoun
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a mocking imitation of someone or something, usually light and good-humored; lampoon or parody.
The show was a spoof of college life.
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a hoax; prank.
verb (used with object)
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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)
noun
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a mildly satirical mockery or parody; lampoon
a spoof on party politics
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a good-humoured deception or trick; prank
verb
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to indulge in a spoof of (a person or thing)
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to communicate electronically under a false identity
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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spoofsimple
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spoofssimple
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have spoofedperfect
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has spoofedperfect
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am spoofingprogressive
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are spoofingprogressive
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is spoofingprogressive
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have been spoofingperfect progressive
-
has been spoofingperfect progressive
Past
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spoofedsimple
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had spoofedperfect
-
was spoofingprogressive
-
were spoofingprogressive
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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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Karthik Delivers
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"Watched" by Marina Budhos, Chapters 10–12
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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:
But the cinema spoof still kicks dirt all over those concepts, even when it’s awful.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
If Broadway has scraped the barrel-bottom of A-list movies to adapt, at least it can mock them: “Titanique” is a frisky and funny spoof of the James Cameron juggernaut about that big ship that sank.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
Once inside the Gulf, Diakun said, vessels can "spoof" their transponders to hide their positions and even perform ship-to-ship transfers of Iranian oil, testing the terms of the US blockade.
From Barron's ● Apr. 22, 2026
He also spoke briefly about his upcoming episodic HBO series, “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Happiness,” a historical spoof that will retrace United States history for the country’s 250th founding anniversary.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 19, 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
It never disappointed us for a laugh with its great cast and their recurring characters and movie spoofs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 18, 2026
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
Baldwin is the latest star to return to the series as part of their election spoofs.
From Salon ● Oct. 20, 2024
Melania’s public froideur toward her husband is the stuff of viral memes and late-night TV spoofs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 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
Late-night TV host Stephen Colbert spoofed Endless Shrimp’s return, and Red Lobster sent a bunch of swag to the show’s writers in response.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 15, 2026
The first trailer "spoofed everything from Star Wars to Avatar to Harry Potter", according to Variety's report from the screening.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 2026
O’Brien spoofed the Hollywood studios pushing for filmmakers to reiterate plot points to make it easier for audiences watching two screens at home to keep up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 16, 2026
The experts were confident that the majority of the vessels were real and not spoofed, which is when AIS data is manipulated to give misleading information about a vessel's location or identity.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
"Well, then, I spoofed him," said Petey, grinning.
From At Good Old Siwash by Fitch, George
Iran’s hundreds of ghost-fleet vessels use tactics like signal spoofing and at-sea oil transfers, posing a challenge to U.S. interdiction efforts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 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
Apple and Google have been instructed to block spoofing of the "gov.sg" domain and other official names on their messaging platforms.
From Barron's ● Mar. 13, 2026
For example, the number of servers available in a country may be suitable for situations in which speed is more important than location spoofing.
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026
Ray saw a suspicious twitch at the corner of her brother's mouth and cried, "Dan Carter, you're spoofing us!"
From Tahara Among African Tribes by Sherman, Harold M.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
