waft
UK/wɒft//wɑft/
waft verb: to (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
Verb
waft (third-person singular simple present wafts, present participle wafting, simple past and past participle wafted)
- To (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
- A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils.
- I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus. There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously.1914, Hesiod, “To Aphrodite”, in Hugh G. Evelyn-White, transl., The Homeric Hymns and Homerica (Loeb Classical Library; 57), Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press; London: William Heinemann...
- Synonyms:
- breathe
- To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
- Unhappy Aureng-Zebe is in disgrace; / And your Morat, proclaimed the successor, / Is called, to awe the city with his power. / Those trumpets his triumphant entry tell, / And now the shouts waft near the citadel.1675, John Dryden, Aureng-zebe, London: [s.n.], OCLC 497010563, Act III, scene i; republished as “Aureng-Zebe, a Tragedy”, in Walter Scott, editor, The Works of John Dryden, now First Collected in...
- They gather one by one, trickling into the shady courtyard, the familiar hum of Mass. Ave. wafting in from behind brick buildings and iron gates.2005 June 9, Michael M. Grynbaum, “An Entryway That Eats Together Stays Together”, in The Harvard Crimson, archived from the original on 25 Jan 2025
- To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
- […] but ſoft: who wafts vs yonder.c. 1594, William Shakespeare, “The Comedie of Errors”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies: Published According to the True Originall Copies, London: Printed by Isaac...
Noun
waft (plural wafts)
- A light breeze.
- It lay before him white and ghaistly, with mist blowing in wafts across it and a slow swaying of the tides.1902, John Buchan, The Outgoing of the Tide
- Something (such as an odor or perfume) that is carried through the air.
- Meanwhile, the wafts from his old home pleaded, whispered, conjured, and finally claimed him imperiously.1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Methuen, →ISBN
- Patrol Magazine says of this Oxford, Miss., band: "Guitars are responsible for every noise in Colour Revolt's mix—not a single note of piano, waft of synthesizer, or evidence of electronic tampering are to be found.[…]"2010 September, “The SLM Calendar”, in St. Louis Magazine, volume 16, number 9, St. Louis, Mo.: Hartmann Pub. Co., →ISSN, page 170
- A flag used to indicate wind direction or, with a knot tied in the center, as a signal; a waif, a wheft.
- A loose noncommittal shot, usually played to a ball pitched short of length and well wide of the off stump.
waft meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Malayalam and Kannada
waft in Tamil
- தண்ணீர், மெல்ல வீசு, மெதுவாகக் கொண்டு சென்று பரப்பு, வாசம் கமழ்
waft in Urdu
- ہلکورا, جھکولا, جھونکا, جھولا, جنبش, لہر
waft in Malayalam
- വെളളത്തീൻമീതെ പൊങ്ങിയൊഴുകുമാറാക്കുക, വെളളത്തിനുമീതെ നീക്കിക്കൊണ്ടുപോകുക, അടയാളംകാട്ടുക
waft in Kannada
- ತೇಲಾಡು
Examples of waft in a sentence
- Through the open window of the church the fragrant incense was wafted and with it the fragrant names of her who was conceived without stain of original sin […]1922, James Joyce, chapter 13, in Ulysses, Paris: Shakespeare and Company, →OCLC:
- The enticing, homey scent of apple pie wafted into the hallway as she beckoned them into her lair.2011 April 12, Beth Kendrick, chapter 29, in The Bake-Off, New York, N.Y.: New American Library, →ISBN:
- Dele Alli, playing with a peacock-like spread of feathers, wafted one chance over an exposed net for a miss that was completely out of place with the rest of his display.2016 March 27, Daniel Taylor, “Eric Dier seals England’s stunning comeback against Germany”, in The Guardian, London:
Synonyms of waft
Forms of waft
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | wafts |
| present participle | wafting |
| past participle | wafted |
| past | wafted |
| alternative form | wheft |
| Noun | |
| plural | wafts |
Origin of waft
From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”). See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (“to wave”) and Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”).
Words formed from waft
Words that rhyme with waft
Questions about waft
- What does waft mean?
- Waft means to (cause to) float easily or gently through the air.
- What is waft in Tamil?
- Waft in Tamil is தண்ணீர், மெல்ல வீசு, மெதுவாகக் கொண்டு சென்று பரப்பு. See Waft meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use waft in a sentence?
- Through the open window of the church the fragrant incense was wafted and with it the fragrant names of her who was conceived without stain of original sin […]
- What part of speech is waft?
- Waft can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce waft?
- Waft is pronounced /wɑft/ (US).
- What is the past tense of waft?
- The past tense of waft is wafted.
Words near waft in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: waft (page history and authors); waft (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waft (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waft (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); waft (Kannada 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: en-us-waft.ogg, en-au-waft.ogg.
Cite this entry: “waft.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/waft. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.