scoff - Wiktionary, the free dictionary
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- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /skɒf/
- (US) IPA(key): /skɔːf/
- (cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /skɑːf/
- Rhymes: -ɒf
From Middle English scof, skof, probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse skaup, Old Danish skof, Old Frisian skof (“insult, shame”), and Old High German scoph.
scoff (plural scoffs)
- A derisive or mocking expression of scorn, contempt, or reproach.
- Synonyms: derision, ridicule; see also Thesaurus:ridicule
1591 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The First Part of Henry the Sixt”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene vi], page 100, column 1:
VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.
1863, J[oseph] Sheridan Le Fanu, “The Wher-wolf”, in The House by the Church-yard. […], volume III, London: Tinsley, Brothers, […], →OCLC, page 200:
"I believe you've killed that constable in the exercise of his duty, sir; the man's dead;" said Lowe, sternly. / "Another gloss on my text; why invade me like house-breakers?" said Dangerfield, with a grim scoff.
1852, The Dublin University Magazine, page 66:
There were sneers, and scoffs, and inuendoes of some; prophecies of failure in a hundred ways […]
- An object of scorn, mockery, or derision.
expression of derision
- Armenian: ծաղր (hy) (caġr)
- Bulgarian: подигравка (bg) f (podigravka), присмех (bg) m (prismeh)
- Finnish: pilkka (fi), iva (fi)
- French: dérision (fr) f, ridicule (fr) m, moquerie (fr) f
- German: Spott (de) m
- Indonesian: sindiran (id)
- Italian: scherno (it), derisione (it) f, verso (it) m, scorno (it) m, ridicolo (it) m
- Occitan: trufariá f, derision f, escòrna f, escarniment m
- Ottoman Turkish: لطیفه (latife)
- Romanian: batjocură (ro) f, bătaie de joc f, derâdere (ro) f
- Russian: насме́шка (ru) f (nasméška)
scoff (third-person singular simple present scoffs, present participle scoffing, simple past and past participle scoffed)
- (intransitive) To jeer; to laugh with contempt and derision.
- Synonym: sneer
- (transitive) To mock; to treat with scorn.
to jeer; laugh at with contempt and derision
- Bulgarian: присмивам се (prismivam se), подигравам се (podigravam se)
- Dutch: spotten (nl)
- Finnish: nauraa pilkaten, nauraa ivaten
- French: se gausser (fr), se moquer (fr), tourner en ridicule (fr)
- German: verlachen (de)
- Hungarian: kinevet (hu), kigúnyol (hu), gúnyolódik (hu)
- Icelandic: hæða, draga dár, gera gys
- Indonesian: menyindir (id)
- Italian: deridere (it), schernire (it), fare il verso, motteggiare (it)
- Latin: cavillor
- Maori: taunu, tāwai, aniani
- Occitan: se trufar, se garçar
- Romanian: batjocori (ro), ridiculiza (ro)
- Russian: насмехаться (ru) (nasmexatʹsja), осмеивать (ru) (osmeivatʹ)
- Spanish: burlarse (es), escarnecer (es), rebuznar (es)
- Welsh: gwawdio (cy), gwatwar (cy)
A variant, attested since the mid 19th century, of scaff, of uncertain origin.[1][2] Compare scarf (“eat quickly”).
scoff (countable and uncountable, plural scoffs)
- (Newfoundland, South Africa and British Army slang) Food.
- (slang) The act of eating.
2016, Fearne Cotton, Cook Happy, Cook Healthy:
Lunch for the busy has become a quick scoff of processed, terrifyingly orange couscous, […]
scoff (third-person singular simple present scoffs, present participle scoffing, simple past and past participle scoffed)
- (British, Newfoundland, slang) To eat food quickly.
2020 December 2, Paul Bigland, “My weirdest and wackiest Rover yet”, in Rail, page 68:
The numbers thin out the further we get from London, so I don't feel guilty when I remove my mask momentarily to scoff some of the snacks I'd bought at Marylebone.
- (Newfoundland, South Africa and British Army slang) To eat.
to eat food quickly
- Bulgarian: лапам (bg) (lapam), нагъвам (bg) (nagǎvam)
- Dutch: schrokken (nl)
- Estonian: õgima
- Finnish: ahmia (fi)
- French: engloutir (fr)
- German: verschlingen (de)
- Hungarian: fal (hu), befal (hu), felfal (hu)
- Italian: trangugiare (it)
- Maori: kai hāporo, kaihorohoro, hāupaupa, ngūngū, kaihoro, horohororē, hāupaupa
- Romanian: hali (ro), înfuleca (ro)
- Russian: уплетать (ru) (upletatʹ), лопать (ru) (lopatʹ)
- Spanish: devorar (es), zampar (es)
- ^ “scoff”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
- ^ “scoff”, in Dictionary.com Unabridged, Dictionary.com, LLC, 1995–present.