miff
/mɪf/
miff noun: a small argument; a quarrel.
Noun
miff (plural miffs)
- A small argument; a quarrel.
- nay, she would throw it in the teeth of Allworthy himself, when a little quarrel, or miff, as it is vulgarly called, arose between them.1749, Henry Fielding, The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC
- Well, to cut a long story short, by-long and by-late, John Wildway and I had a miff and parted; and lo and behold, the coming man came!1872, [Thomas Hardy], “VIII. They Dance More Wildly”, in Under the Greenwood Tree: A Rural Painting of the Dutch School, volume I, London: Tinsley Brothers, →OCLC, part I, page 111
- Synonyms:
- tiff
- A state of being offended.
- She's taken a miff at something, I suppose, and means to cut my acquaintance.1851, T. S. Arthur, Off-Hand Sketches
Verb
miff (third-person singular simple present miffs, present participle miffing, simple past and past participle miffed)
- To offend slightly.
- he [our Interpreter Shabonah] will not agree to work let our Situation be what it may nor Stand a guard, and if miffed with any man he wishes to return when he pleases1805 March 12, Bernard DeVoto, editor, The journals of Lewis and Clark, Houghton Mifflin, Boston, 1953, Clark's journal, page 85
- […] answered my Thetis, a little miffed perhaps -- to use the women's phrase — that I turned the conversation upon my former partner, rather than addressed it to herself.1824, Sir Walter Scott, Redgauntlet
- To become slightly offended.
- I amble on; yet, though I know not why, / So sad I am!—but should a friend and I / Grow cool and miff, O! I am very sad!c. 1797, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, “To Simplicity”, in Sonnets Attempted in the Manner of Contemporary Writers
- She miffed and started to reply, but thought better of it.1905, George Barr McCutcheon, Jane Cable
miff meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Bengali
miff in Tamil
- எரிச்சலூட்டும், வெறுப்பூட்டு
miff in Urdu
- ان بن, غصہ, شکر رنجی, برہم کرنا, ناراض کرنا, ستانا
miff in Bengali
- রোষাবেশ, বদমেজাজ, তুচ্ছ ঝগড়া, মেজাজ বিগড়িয়ে দেওয়া, বিরক্তি প্রকাশ করা, অপরাধ লওয়া
Synonyms of miff
Forms of miff
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | miffs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | miffs |
| present participle | miffing |
| past participle | miffed |
| past | miffed |
Origin of miff
Compare German muffeln (“grouse, grumble”) and similar German words with similar meanings such as Muff, mupf, Muffel and Dutch moppen (“growl, grouse”). Probably related to mop (“grimace”).
Words formed from miff
Words that rhyme with miff
Questions about miff
- What does miff mean?
- Miff means a small argument; a quarrel.
- What is miff in Tamil?
- Miff in Tamil is எரிச்சலூட்டும், வெறுப்பூட்டு. See Miff meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is miff?
- Miff can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce miff?
- Miff is pronounced /mɪf/ (UK).
- What is the plural of miff?
- The plural of miff is miffs.
Words near miff in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: miff (page history and authors); miff (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); miff (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); miff (Bengali Wiktionary) (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-miff.wav.
Cite this entry: “miff.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/miff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.