Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • interjection Used to indicate a sudden vanishing.
  • noun Used as a disparaging term for an effeminate man, especially an effeminate gay man.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • interjection Onomatopoeia indicating a cloud of smoke or wind; caused by a deflating object, or a magical disappearance.
  • noun UK, derogatory, colloquial A male homosexual, especially one who is effeminate.
  • noun The product of flatulence, or the sound of breaking wind.
  • verb To vanish or disappear.
  • verb To break wind; to fart.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun offensive term for an openly homosexual man

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Imitative.]

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Probably alteration of puff, braggart, gay man, from puff (influenced by poof).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Onomatopoeic.

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Examples

  • The burden of poof is on those who would deny of commonsense ie hardwired position.

    Alternative to Dembski's Theodicy? 2009

  • In the UK we’d call it a puff of smoke, a poof is a story altogether. scar

    HALF • by Fred Warren 2010

  • Reminds me of the hippie releasing the white 'dove of peace' in MARS ATTACKS which really and truly goes "poof" - more like "sizzlepoof."

    VARIANTS: REVISITING A TERRIBLE ENDING radii 2009

  • And "poof" - he's still a toad - no matter how many times Billo kisses him.

    Think Progress 2009

  • And "poof" - he's still a toad - no matter how many times Billo kisses him.

    Think Progress 2009

  • Had there not been that glitch -- and I really don't like using the word "glitch" because that was your money going "poof" -- the Dow would have dropped 400 points, not 900.

    Stocks close strongly, three major indexes return to positive for 2010 2010

  • It's good before a meal, after a meal, when drunk, when taking drugs, while playing football and after being called a poof in the street.

    Life on a Plate: Noel Fielding 2010

  • Madison aside, our midge presidents have not served us well: Van Buren was an entitled poof, Benjamin Harrison a craven seat-warmer, and even feisty Harry S. Truman bungled our entry into what was euphemistically called “the Korean conflict,” conspiring to get me into uniform precisely when I was in my sexual prime.

    Coaster Endorses Obama, Sort of: Edwin Coaster Coaster, Edwin 2008

  • But police never believed him and, specifically, they pointed to this thing called poof dirt, which is the thing in the desert, which is dust.

    CNN Transcript Sep 28, 2007 2007

  • But it all started here during the presidency of Ulysses Grant, the president who was known to imbibe, would sit on a sofa right here -- it was a round rose-colored sofa called a poof, in case you're wondering -- that they only removed last year.

    CNN Transcript Jan 18, 2006 2006

Comments

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  • Brilliantly, WordNet doesn't append its definition to this one; instead, it appears in pooves (!!)

    October 26, 2008

  • According to WordNet, the singular is poove.

    March 21, 2009

  • For that matter, hoof, hooves and hoove (not as common, but actually a word: 'a disease of cattle', says the O.E.D.) are all missing WordNet definitions. Since I can find hoof on http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn this may be a glitch in Wordie's implementation. Or some gremlin with a grudge against -oof words.

    March 21, 2009

  • Is this poof as in "Poof--he disappeared," or something else?

    July 19, 2009