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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

chuff.

Surly; annoyed; displeased; disgruntled.

5 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

adj/t͡ʃʌf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/t͡ʃɐf/Australia, New-Zealand/t͡ʃʊf/Northern-England
  1. Surly; annoyed; displeased; disgruntled.

    UK
  2. stupid; churlish; loutish.

    UK · dialectal
Where this word comes from

15th century, dialectal, from Middle English chuffe (“a rustic, boor”), in noun sense “stupid fellow”. Adjective sense “surly, displeased” from 1832.

adv/t͡ʃʌf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/t͡ʃɐf/Australia, New-Zealand/t͡ʃʊf/Northern-England
  1. In a chuff manner.

Where this word comes from

15th century, dialectal, from Middle English chuffe (“a rustic, boor”), in noun sense “stupid fellow”. Adjective sense “surly, displeased” from 1832.

noun/t͡ʃʌf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/t͡ʃɐf/Australia, New-Zealand/t͡ʃʊf/Northern-England
  1. A coarse or stupid fellow.

Where this word comes from

15th century, dialectal, from Middle English chuffe (“a rustic, boor”), in noun sense “stupid fellow”. Adjective sense “surly, displeased” from 1832.

verb/t͡ʃʌf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/t͡ʃɐf/Australia, New-Zealand/t͡ʃʊf/Northern-England
  1. To make noisy puffing sounds, as of a steam locomotive.

    intransitive
  2. To break wind.

    UK · slang
  3. Of a powder, propellant, or explosive charge: to become extinguished and reignited intermittently.

Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic. Compare chug and puff.

noun/t͡ʃʌf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/t͡ʃɐf/Australia, New-Zealand/t͡ʃʊf/Northern-England
  1. Superfluous small talk that is free of conflict, offers no character development, description or insight, and does not advance the story or plot.

    uncountable
  2. A noisy puffing sound.

    countable · uncountable
  3. A breathy noise produced by a tiger, similar in function to a cat's purr.

    countable · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Onomatopoeic. Compare chug and puff.

adj/t͡ʃʌf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/t͡ʃɐf/Australia, New-Zealand/t͡ʃʊf/Northern-England
  1. Pleased, proud.

    UK
  2. Swollen with fat.

    obsolete
  3. Chubby.

Where this word comes from

1520s, in sense “swollen with fat”; circa 1860, British dialect, in sense “pleased”. Possibly related to “coarse, stupid, fat-headed” sense (see etymology 1 above). Or, perhaps a euphemistic alteration of fuck or another expletive.

noun/t͡ʃʌf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/t͡ʃɐf/Australia, New-Zealand/t͡ʃʊf/Northern-England
  1. The vagina.

    slang · vulgar
  2. The anus.

    slang · vulgar
    The car behind was following too close — it was right up my chuff.
Where this word comes from

1520s, in sense “swollen with fat”; circa 1860, British dialect, in sense “pleased”. Possibly related to “coarse, stupid, fat-headed” sense (see etymology 1 above). Or, perhaps a euphemistic alteration of fuck or another expletive.

verb/t͡ʃʌf/General-American, Received-Pronunciation/t͡ʃɐf/Australia, New-Zealand/t͡ʃʊf/Northern-England
  1. Used as a replacement for obscenities, particularly fuck.

    UK · euphemistic
    Oh chuff off! I'm so chuffing fed up with all of the spam posts on my timeline.
Where this word comes from

1520s, in sense “swollen with fat”; circa 1860, British dialect, in sense “pleased”. Possibly related to “coarse, stupid, fat-headed” sense (see etymology 1 above). Or, perhaps a euphemistic alteration of fuck or another expletive.

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.