daff
/dæf/
daff noun: a fool; an idiot; a blockhead. Also the clipping of daffodil.
Noun (1)
daff (plural daffs)
Verb (1)
daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)
- To be foolish; make sport; play; toy.
- We'll hauld our court mid the roaring lins, And daff in the lashan' tide1820 May, unknown author, “Marmaiden of Clyde”, in Edinburgh Magazine
- They admired and loved each other—enjoyed easy circumstances—had duties to discharge which they did not neglect; and, clear in conscience as light of heart, laughed, sung, danced, daffed the world aside, and bid it pass.1822, Sir Walter Scott, The Pirate
- To daunt.
- Young Tam came up and eyed me quick With reddened cheek—Braw Tam was daffed like a chick—He could na speak—Ah Marie they are all gane hame1818, John Keats, To Thomas Keats
- I made out—to put it clearly—that the Sultan had been far gone in his cups when Kiamil appeared before him; that he had called the Basha such 'daffing' names as 'renegade dog,' 'toothless old hound,' 'hound without scent, that could not smell out an intrigue under his nose;' which agreeable...1894, James MacLaren Cobban, The Red Sultan: A Story of Adventure, page 295
Verb (2)
daff (third-person singular simple present daffs, present participle daffing, simple past and past participle daffed)
- To toss (aside); to dismiss.
- DON PEDRO. I would she had bestowed this dotage on me; I would have daffed all other respects and made her half myself.1598–1599 (first performance), William Shakespeare, “Much Adoe about Nothing”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward]...
- Such is the record of Scripture. Nor can you daff it aside by saying that local and temporary conditions condemned women to silence and private life.1948, CS Lewis, Notes on the Way
- To turn (someone) aside; divert.
Noun (2)
daff (uncountable)
- A preparation of gypsum once used to adulterate food products.
Also used as
daff is also the clipping of daffodil.
daff is also the alternative form of daf.
Examples of daff in a sentence
- As the afternoon progressed, we become 'daffed' out.2011, Kevan Manwaring, Turning the Wheel:
- "Perhaps, most Elysian of fair ladies, it would be, as one might say, more seemly if I, as a justice of the peace—" Brilliana daffed him down.1904, Justin Huntly McCarthy, The Lady of Loyalty House, page 226:
Forms of daff
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | daffs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | daffs |
| present participle | daffing |
| past participle | daffed |
| past | daffed |
Origin of daff
From Middle English daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”), from Old Norse daufr (“deaf, stupid”), from Proto-Germanic *daubaz (“deaf, stunned”), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰewbʰ- (“to whisk, whirl, smoke, be obscure”). Doublet of deaf, dof, and dowf. Cognate with Swedish döv (“deaf”), Danish døv (“deaf, stupid”). More at deaf.
From Middle English daffen (“to render foolish”), from daf, daffe (“fool, idiot”). See above.
Variant of doff.
Words formed from daff
Words that rhyme with daff
14 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about daff
- What does daff mean?
- Daff means a fool; an idiot; a blockhead.
- How do you use daff in a sentence?
- As the afternoon progressed, we become 'daffed' out.
- What part of speech is daff?
- Daff can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce daff?
- Daff is pronounced /dæf/ (UK).
- What is the plural of daff?
- The plural of daff is daffs.
Words near daff in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: daff (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-daff.wav.
Cite this entry: “daff.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/daff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.