oof

English

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /uːf/, /ʊf/
• (General American) enPR: ūf, IPA^(key): /uf/

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -uːf, -ʊf

Etymology 1

An onomatopoeia. Similar to Dutch oef and German uff.

Interjection

oof

1. (onomatopoeia) A sound mimicking the loss of air, as if someone's solar plexus had just been struck.
   • 1989 June 5, The Canberra Times, Australia Captial Territory, page 10, column 2:

     Whap, Biff, Ooooof, Sock, Pow, Zok! Batman is back. Gotham City is again leaving its law and order in the hands of a man who wears plastic underpants over his tights.

2. (slang) Synonym of ouch (“expressing sympathy at another's pain, shock at a high price, etc.”)
   • 2017, Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy:

     "Oof, you just lost a lot of progress. That's a real frustration, a real punch in the gut."

Noun

oof (plural oofs)

1. A sound made in pain, as when expelling air after being struck.
   • 1966, James Workman, The Mad Emperor, Melbourne, Sydney: Scripts, page 33:

     The soldier on the ground clutched his head and then his stomach and gave an "oof" of pain.

2. (Internet) Something cringeworthy, or which arouses disappointment, often used in conjunction with the qualifier big.
   • 2022 July 27, Eleni Thomas, “Roblox is removing iconic “oof” sound after copyright issues”, in Dexerto‎^[1]:

     Fans were quick to express their disappointment at the removal of what has now become an iconic sound in the gaming space. The audio is trending on Twitter under #SaveTheOOF and Big Oof.

   • 2022 September 22, Vinepair Staff, “The Cocktail College Podcast: How to Make the Perfect El Diablo”, in The Cocktail College Podcast‎^[2]:

     That actually hits me home because I used to drink tequila sunrises when I first started drinking. So that’s an oof.

Etymology 2

Clipping of ooftish

Noun

oof (uncountable)

1. (UK, slang, dated) Money. [c. 1850 – c. 1940]
   • 1888, H. Rider Haggard, Colonel Quaritch V.C. (archive.org ebook), page 232:

     “Oh,” Johnnie was saying, “so Quest is his name, is it, and he lives in a city called Boisingham, does he? Is he an oof bird?” (rich)
     “Rather,” answered the Tiger, “if only one can make the dollars run, but he's a nasty mean boy, he is.

   • 1900, Harry B. Norris (lyrics and music), “Burlington Bertie”:

     Burlington Bertie's the latest young jay
     He rents a swell flat somewhere Kensington way
     He spends the good oof that his pater has made
     Along with the Brandy and Soda Brigade.

   • 1911–1912, published 1916, Gilbert Parker, The World For Sale, book 2, chapter 10 (Gutenberg ebook, archive.org ebook):

     What's he after? Oof—oof—oof, that's what he's after. He's for his own pocket, he's for being boss of all the woolly West. He's after keeping us poor and making himself rich.

   • 1991 May 12, “Kidnapped!”, in Jeeves and Wooster, Series 2, Episode 5:

     Chuffy: It's on a knife edge at the moment, Bertie. If he can get planning permission, old Stoker's going to take this heap off my hands in return for vast amounts of oof.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:money

Derived terms

• feathered oof-bird (“large source of money”)
• make the oof-bird walk (“to circulate money”)
• oof-bag (“source of money”)
• oof-bird (“source of money”)
• oofless (“poor”)
• oofy (“rich”)
• pad the oof (“to fold banknotes to appear twice as much”)

References

• John S[tephen] Farmer; W[illiam] E[rnest] Henley, compilers (1902) “oof”, in Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present. […], volume V, [London: […] Harrison and Sons] […], →OCLC, page 107.
• “oof”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• Foo, foo, foo'

Hawaiian Creole

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /uf/

Verb

oof

1. (vulgar) to have sex