How to use whiff in a sentence

40 example sentences · noun, verb, adjective

Whiff means a brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft. Example: “When Martha reopened the bottle of wine from the previous week's party, a vinegary whiff indicated that drinking it was out of the question.”

Examples of whiff by meaning

nounA short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.

"I call that a dirty-looking pipe," he added, blowing a contemptuous whiff in the direction of Limpet's pipe.1913, Norman Lindsay, A Curate in Bohemia, Sydney: N.S.W. Bookstall Co., published 1932, page 12

nounA slight sign of something; a burst, a glimpse, a hint.

This was a rare whiff of the big-time for a club whose staple diet became top-flight football for so long—the glamour was in short supply, however.2012 September 23, Ben Smith, “Leeds United 2 – 1 Everton”, in BBC Sport, archived from the original on 24 May 2021
I can tell you first-hand that we are dealing with a regime that is not being forthright and will seize upon the faintest whiff of trepidation.2014 February 14, Kenneth Lin, “Chapter 18”, in House of Cards, season 2, episode 5, spoken by Frank Underwood (Kevin Spacey)

verbTo carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air; to blow, puff, or waft away.

It whiffed by us steam and sulphurous vapors from the caldron, the Echeyde (Hell) of the Guanches; the La Caldera Diabla (Devil's Caldron) of the Spanish peasantry, in which all food of hell is cooked.1918 August, Charles Wellington Furlong, “Climbing the Shoulders of Atlas”, in Harper’s Magazine, volume CXXXVII, number DCCCXIX, New York...

verbTo shoot (someone) with a firearm; hence, to assassinate or kill (someone).

It was pointed out that troops would not always remain in the open to be whiffed out of existence by shrapnel.1916 January, Pousse Cailloux, “75’s”, in Blackwood’s Magazine, American edition, volume CXCIX, number MCCIII, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard...
The trouble is he wasn't alone when you whiffed him.1939, Raymond Chandler, chapter 14, in The Big Sleep, New York, N.Y.: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, published August 1992, →ISBN, page 82

verbTo give off or have an unpleasant smell; to stink.

The second trauma was sharing a boat with all the foreigners who were beginning to whiff somewhat and had things crawling out of their beards, having spent days on end reaching the ferry on their bikes.2007, Chris Walker, with Neil Bramwell, “Tourist Stalker”, in Stalker!: Chris Walker: The Autobiography, London: HarperSport...

verbEspecially in baseball or golf: to completely miss hitting a ball; hence (baseball), of a batter: to strike out; to fan.

There's a good chance that you may just whiff.1995, HAL Laboratory, EarthBound, Nintendo, Super Nintendo Entertainment System

adjectiveHaving a strong or unpleasant odour.

Whoo boy that gear oil is pretty whiff.2002 November 5, Jim Rozen, “Way oil”, in rec.crafts.metalworking (Usenet)

More sentences with whiff

When Martha reopened the bottle of wine from the previous week's party, a vinegary whiff indicated that drinking it was out of the question.From the entry vinegary
Didn’t he whiff set-up? — Nah, cause this bird knew this geezer’s MO.2022, Irvine Welsh, The Long Knives, Random House, →ISBN. From the entry noncery
I take a whiff of the most sincerely sinful cookies in the history of the world.2018 April 10, Rachel Cohn, David Levithan, Sam & Ilsa's Last Hurrah, New York City: Random House, →ISBN. From the entry sinful
We looked at a dining table and saw an opportunity to play whiff whaff.2012, John Hart, The National CV of Britain: A non-PC history of Britain, →ISBN. From the entry whiff whaff
There was almost a whiff of magic, though nothing sinister, just charmed.2012, Jill Kargman, The Rock Star in Seat 3A, William Morrow, →ISBN, page 176. From the entry Hogwartsian
Well, with a whiff whaff, little Georgy was back with five foot or so.2011, David Smith, Saskatchewan, →ISBN, page 28. From the entry whiff whaff
He had his first whiff of "wiki-crack," the irreverent jargon Wikipedians have used to describe their addiction.2009, Andrew Lih, The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia, New York, N.Y.: Hyperion…. From the entry wiki crack
Instead, there's an unpleasant whiff of pork-barrel politics rising from the board.2002 June 24, Christopher Palmeri, “Can CalPERS Afford to Throw Stones?”, in BusinessWeek, retrieved 04 Aug 2009. From the entry smell like a rose
But some busybody got a whiff of an exotic cheroot and the place was closed down.1989, Punch, volume 296, numbers 7721-7733, page 207. From the entry exotic cheroot
A whiff of nutmeg adds to its distinctive merit, but don't overspice it.1953, June Evans Platt, Sophie Kerr, The Best I Ever Ate: A Practical Home Cook Book, page 56. From the entry overspice
The Portuguese equivalent of bungstarter whiffed Angus Jones by an eyelash.1929, John Russell, Color of the East, W. W. Norton, page 229. From the entry bungstarter
The wind carries whiffs of rotten egg.2025 December 29, Lindsay Jones, “A Newfoundland winter brings new risks to Coast Guard's biggest-ever operation. Crews at mercy of the…. From the entry container
Suffocated by the stinksome whiff of too much broccoli!2020, James Patterson, Steven Butler, Dog Diaries. From the entry stinksome
Baby fragrance: the faint parmesany whiff of vomit.2009, Lance Olsen, Head in Flames, Chiasmus Press, →ISBN, page 128. From the entry parmesany
These criticisms had a whiff of territoriality about them.1999, Matt Ridley, Genome, Harper Perennial, published 2004, page 99. From the entry territoriality
You can whiff she's just a virgie.1993 June, David Brin, Glory Season, New York, NY: Bantam Books, →ISBN, page 58. From the entry virgie
He debated getting out of bed and taking a shower before Marie woke up and got a downwind whiff.1976, Richard Price, Bloodbrothers, Houghton Mifflin, →ISBN, page 1. From the entry tough titties
Now and again, he caught a whiff of a peculiar smell that seemed to emanate directly from her person.1959 November 20, Roald Dahl, "The Landlady", archived from the original on 19 Mar 2023. From the entry emanate
His head rested on the back of the booth just behind Bond and a whiff of expensive hair-straightener came from him.1954, Ian Fleming, “Nigger Heaven”, in Live and Let Die, London: Pan Books, published 1957, page 47. From the entry hair straightener
It was evening, the hour when warm dinnery smells pervaded the walls and whiffs of other people’s trays came a-visiting.c. 1943, Emily Carr, “Red Roses”, in Ann-Lee Switzer, editor, This and That: The Lost Stories of Emily Carr, TouchWood Editions, published…. From the entry dinnery
One whiff of that and you're a doner.1922 (1984), James Joyce, Ulysses, page 86. From the entry doner
A wind keeps blowing in watchmaking, and it carries with it a strong whiff of sportivity, of the dressier kind, and steel and titanium.2021 August 10, David Chokron, “Fifty shades of Fifty Fathoms”, in WorldTempus. From the entry sportivity
The rank postparty stench that he had woken up to had been replaced by a sterile hospital nonscent, the faintest chemical whiff.2017, Chris Vola, Only the Dead Know Brooklyn, page 141. From the entry nonscent
We’ve now spent eight years watching Republican congressmen scurrying hither and thither brandishing pitchforks, outraged at the latest whiff of terrorist fist-bumpery.2016 September 4, Hari Kunzru, “The [Barack] Obama years: novelists assess his legacy”, in The New Review (The Observer), London, →ISSN…. From the entry bumpery
I take a hesitant whiff and detect no putrid odor of rotting flesh, no oozing, fetid cow juice—just the full-bodied aroma of well-aged meat.2010 February 10, Nadia Arumugam, “Ignore Expiration Dates”, in Slate, archived from the original on 28 Mar 2019. From the entry cow juice
The grand-mother in the house in Kyoto where I once lived claimed that a whiff of Nara-zuke was enough to make her drunk.1981, Donald Keene, Travels in Japan. From the entry narazuke
Bosomy smoke with platinum tresses ambles toward the opening door to ingest a whiff of carbon monoxide entering with a blue-jeaned, bomber-jacketed customer.1979 February 26, Kurt J. Fickert, “All Night Long / At the Happy Haven”, in Malcolm L. Johnson, editor, “This Singing World”, in The…. From the entry bomber-jacketed
Uncle Sam has found his box of tricks heavy, and is having a whiff before going on with his white man's burden to the end.1902 January 2, The Evening Telegraph, Charters Towers, page 3, column 2. From the entry white man's burden
So we've all probably sadfished offline before, but online, there's a whiff of social desperation to it, just like there is any time people overshare on the internet.2023 September 7, “Why People On Social Media Feel Compelled To Share 'Sadfishing' Posts”, in HuffPost, archived from the original on 09…. From the entry sadfish
Otherwise, why would anyone be in the slightest bit sentimental for all that “pip-pip-pip, get your change sorted out, what's that nasty whiff of urine” palaver?2018 February 6, Robert Crampton, “Robert Crampton: There’s nothing we miss more than our mix tapes”, in The Times, London: News UK…. From the entry pip-pip-pip
Get a whiff of the models that served our grandfathers well: They now combine the must of a midcentury hatbox with the musk of 21st-century body spray.2015 November 24, Troy Patterson, “The Winter Hat Trick”, in The New York Times Magazine, archived from the original on 26 Feb 2019. From the entry hatbox

Meaning of whiff

noun A brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft.
noun A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
noun A cigarette or small cigar.

Full definition of whiff

Questions about whiff in a sentence

How do you use whiff in a sentence?: Whiff is used as a noun, verb and adjective. For example: “When Martha reopened the bottle of wine from the previous week's party, a vinegary whiff indicated that drinking it was out of the question.”
What is a short sentence with whiff?: “The wind carries whiffs of rotten egg.”
What does whiff mean?: Whiff means a brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft.

Adapted from Wiktionary: whiff (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use whiff in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/whiff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.