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goof

noun
/ɡuːf/

Etymology

Perhaps from dialectal English goff (“foolish clown”), from earlier goffe, in which case further etymology is uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English goffen (“to speak in a frivolous manner”), possibly from Old English gaf, ġegaf (“base; wanton; lewd”, adjective), ġegaf (“buffoonery; scurrility”, noun), gaffetung, golfettung (“buffoonery; mockery”). Compare English dialectal gauffin (“lightheaded; foolish; giddy”), Scots gaff, gawf (“to talk loudly; babble”), Scots gaffaw (“a loud laugh”). Alternatively, perhaps from Middle French goffe (“awkward; stupid”). Compare also Spanish gofo, Italian goffo.

  1. derived from goffe
  2. inherited from gaf
  3. inherited from goffen

Definitions

  1. A mistake or error.

    • I made a goof in that last calculation.

  2. A foolish and/or silly person

    A foolish and/or silly person; a goofball.

    • Your little brother is a total goof.

  3. A rapist.

  4. ›+ 2 more definitions

    1. To make a mistake.

      • It's my fault. I goofed.
      • GCN is in a sticky situation because we goofed and bought 10 pounds of a type of wax that we cannot use.

    2. To engage in mischief.

      • We were just goofing by painting the neighbor's cat green.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for goof. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA