goof
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See also: Goof
English
[edit]Etymology
[edit]Perhaps from dialectal English goff (“foolish clown”), from earlier goffe, in which case further etymology is uncertain.
Perhaps from Middle English goffen (“to speak in a frivolous manner”), possibly from Old English gaf, ġegaf (“base; wanton; lewd”, adj), ġegaf (“buffoonery; scurrility”, noun), gaffetung, golfettung (“buffoonery; mockery”). Compare English dialectal gauffin (“lightheaded; foolish; giddy”), Scots gaff, gawf (“to talk loudly; babble”), Scots gaffaw (“a loud laugh”).
Alternatively, perhaps from Middle French goffe (“awkward; stupid”). Compare also Spanish gofo, Italian goffo.
Pronunciation
[edit]- IPA(key): /ɡuːf/
Audio (General Australian): (file) - Rhymes: -uːf
Noun
[edit]goof (plural goofs)
- (US, informal) A mistake or error.
- I made a goof in that last calculation.
- Synonyms: blooper, boo-boo, error, faux pas, fluff, gaffe, lapse, mistake, slip, stumble, thinko; see also Thesaurus:error
- (US, cinematography, informal) An error made during production which finds its way into the final release.
- (US, Canada, MTE, informal) A foolish and/or silly person; a goofball.
- Your little brother is a total goof.
- (Canada, prison slang) A rapist.
Translations
[edit]a mistake or error
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an error made during production which finds its way into the final release
a foolish person
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child molester
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Verb
[edit]goof (third-person singular simple present goofs, present participle goofing, simple past and past participle goofed)
- (US) To make a mistake.
- It's my fault. I goofed.
- 1986 August 9, “Attention Art World”, in Gay Community News, page 13:
- GCN is in a sticky situation because we goofed and bought 10 pounds of a type of wax that we cannot use.
- (US) To engage in mischief.
- Synonym: goof around
- We were just goofing by painting the neighbor's cat green.
Synonyms
[edit]- See also Thesaurus:make a mistake
Translations
[edit]to make a mistake
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to engage in mischief
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Derived terms
[edit]Anagrams
[edit]Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Middle French
- English 1-syllable words
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- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/uːf
- Rhymes:English/uːf/1 syllable
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- American English
- English informal terms
- English terms with usage examples
- en:Cinematography
- Canadian English
- Multicultural Toronto English
- English prison slang
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