oomph
/ʊmf/
oomph noun: strength, power, passion or effectiveness; clout.
Noun
oomph (countable and uncountable, plural oomphs)
- Strength, power, passion or effectiveness; clout.
- Use a mild cleanser, but pick something with enough oomph to do the job.
- "Yes, well they're finding it difficult, sir. They are afflicted with a certain lassitude. They're just finding it hard to get behind the job. They lack oomph."1982 August, Douglas Adams, chapter 30, in Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; 3), London: Pan Books, →ISBN
- Synonyms:
- welly
- Sex appeal.
- 'Come to think of it, the girl looked a bit like Ann,' Jerry reflected. 'Foxy, know what I mean? Garbo eyes, lots of oomph.'1974, John le Carré, chapter 28, in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
- A bassy grunting or thudding sound.
Verb
oomph (third-person singular simple present oomphs, present participle oomphing, simple past and past participle oomphed)
Synonyms of oomph
Forms of oomph
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | oomphs |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | oomphs |
| present participle | oomphing |
| past participle | oomphed |
| past | oomphed |
Origin of oomph
Onomatopoeic.
Words formed from oomph
Questions about oomph
- What does oomph mean?
- Oomph means strength, power, passion or effectiveness; clout.
- What part of speech is oomph?
- Oomph can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce oomph?
- Oomph is pronounced /ʊmf/.
- What is the plural of oomph?
- The plural of oomph is oomphs.
Words near oomph in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: oomph (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-oomph.wav.
Cite this entry: “oomph.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/oomph. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.