Word.ws English Dictionary

doofer

Syllables: doo·ferUK/ˈduːfə//ˈdufɚ/

doofer noun: an object whose name the speaker or writer cannot remember or does not know.

doofer: an object whose name the speaker or writer cannot remember or does not know
Image: espensorvik, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun (1)

doofer (plural doofers)

  1. (slang) An object whose name the speaker or writer cannot remember or does not know.
    • A certain factory manufactures two distinct products, ‘gadgets’ and ‘doofers’. […] The times required for these operations, the total time available per week, and the profit per gadget or doofer are as tabulated: […]1981, Ian Stewart, “Applications of Modern Mathematics”, in Concepts of Modern Mathematics, Harmondsworth, Middlesex; New York, N.Y.: Penguin Books, →ISBN; republished Mineola, N.Y.: Dover...
    • Right-ho. Who's going to work the doofer? Lady? Right-ho.1992, Dylan Thomas, “Margate – Past and Present”, in Ralph Maud, editor, On the Air with Dylan Thomas: The Broadcasts, New York, N.Y.: Published for James Laughlin by New Directions Publishing...
    1. (slang, specifically) The remote control for a television.
      • From a very early age, my elder grandson took to calling the remote control for the TV the ‘doofer’. He didn't come up with the name himself. It was the name his parents used, and he just picked it up – the name, that is, not the doofer. Actually, he became very adept at negotiating his way around...2014, Tom Gordon, “December 12 – Simplicity”, in Look Well to This Day: A Year of Daily Reflections, Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications, →ISBN, page 357
      • I was bombarded with hysterical Black Friday offers to upgrade my telly, my tablet, my computer, my phone and my DVD player. Why in the name of G5 would I want to do that? I already have to negotiate my way, weepily, round four doofers (as in “it’ll do for that”, aka a remote) just to watch I’m a...2014 November 28, Judith Woods, “Three cheers for Mariella and the ‘M’ word”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 22 Jun 2017

Noun (2)

doofer (plural doofers)

  1. (Australia, slang) A participant in a doof (“outdoor dance party held in remote bushland or on the outskirts of a city”).
    • Last weekend The Sunday Telegraph reported on the trend of what teenagers are calling "bush doofing", which sees hundreds of drunk partygoers descend on a vacant property for a wild night of drinking and dancing. But real bush doofers have hit back, claiming teenagers are ruining the reputation of...2013 May 11, Briana Domjen, “Bush doof community hits back”, in The Sunday Telegraph, Sydney, N.S.W., archived from the original on 06 Sep 2017
    • In the early days you couldn't really distinguish between … the techno ravers in the warehouses and the bush doofers […]2015 May 19, Simon Leo Brown, quoting Paul Fleckney, “Mad Max: Fury Road’s War Drumming Doof Wagon Doesn’t Represent Doof, Says Documentary Maker”, in ABC Radio Melbourne, archived from the original...

Examples of doofer in a sentence

  • On top of the bar [of the bicycle] is a little rubber doofer that plugs a hole, into which a Garmin or Wahoo out-front mount can be inserted.2018 February 28, Stu Bowers, “Cannondale Synapse Hi-Mod Disc 2018 Review”, in Cyclist, archived from the original on 09 Aug 2018:
  • From a very early age, my elder grandson took to calling the remote control for the TV the ‘doofer’.2014, Tom Gordon, “December 12 – Simplicity”, in Look Well to This Day: A Year of Daily Reflections, Glasgow: Wild Goose Publications...
  • I already have to negotiate my way, weepily, round four doofers (as in “it’ll do for that”, aka a remote) just to watch I’m a Celebrity…2014 November 28, Judith Woods, “Three cheers for Mariella and the ‘M’ word”, in The Daily Telegraph, archived from the original on 22 Jun...
  • [A]round 200 ‘doofers’ had trampled and rubbished the ecologically sensitive area which contained threatened fauna and flora.2017 March 17, “Byron Beach Doof-party Organiser Fined $8,000”, in Echo Netdaily, archived from the original on 20 Mar 2017:

Synonyms of doofer

Forms of doofer

pluraldoofers

Origin of doofer

Respelling of “do for”, as in “it will do for that job”.

From doof (“outdoor dance party”) + -er.

Words that rhyme with doofer

Questions about doofer

What does doofer mean?
Doofer means an object whose name the speaker or writer cannot remember or does not know.
How do you use doofer in a sentence?
On top of the bar [of the bicycle] is a little rubber doofer that plugs a hole, into which a Garmin or Wahoo out-front mount can be inserted.
What part of speech is doofer?
Doofer is a noun.
How do you pronounce doofer?
Doofer is pronounced /ˈduːfə/ (UK).
What is the plural of doofer?
The plural of doofer is doofers.

Words near doofer in the dictionary

  1. Dooen
  2. doof
  3. doofbag
  4. doofbags
  5. Doofenshmirtzian
  6. doofer
  7. doofers
  8. doofi
  9. doofier
  10. doofiest
  11. doofiness

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: doofer (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: En-us-doofer.flac, EN-AU ck1 doofer.ogg.

Cite this entry: “doofer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/doofer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.