huff

CEFRC1

/hʌf/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To breathe noisily, often because of anger or effort.

  2. 02

    verb

    Extra detail

    A condition of anger, annoyance, disgust, etc.

Examples

  • She stormed off in a huff.

  • Tom stormed off in a huff.

At a glance

Sits at C1 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meaning

  1. One swelled with a false sense of importance or value; a boaster.

noun

Extra meanings

  1. A heavy breath; a grunt or sigh.

  2. The act of removing an opponent's piece as a forfeit for deliberately not taking a piece (often signalled by blowing on it).

More examples

In context

  • The run left him huffing and puffing.

  • With a huff, he lifted the box onto the back of the truck.

  • Bread huffs.

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

He let out a loud blank of air when he heard the disappointing news.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

Probably an altered spelling of earlier *hough, represented by Scots hech (“to breathe hard, pant”). Compare also German hauchen (“to breathe”).