Meaning

A derisive or mocking expression of scorn, contempt, or reproach..

Definitions by Sense

1. A derisive or mocking expression of scorn, contempt, or reproach.
2. An object of scorn, mockery, or derision.
3. (intransitive) To jeer; to laugh with contempt and derision.
4. (transitive) To mock; to treat with scorn.
5. (Newfoundland, South Africa and British Army slang) Food.
6. (slang) The act of eating.
7. (British, Newfoundland, slang) To eat food quickly.
8. (Newfoundland, South Africa and British Army slang) To eat.

Example Sentences

VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo.

"I believe you've killed that constable in the exercise of his duty, sir; the man's dead;" said Lowe, sternly. / "Another gloss on my text; why invade me like house-breakers?" said Dangerfield, with a grim scoff.

There were sneers, and scoffs, and inuendoes of some; prophecies of failure in a hundred ways […]

[T]he scoff of wither'd age and beardless youth […]

Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, / And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray.

Lunch for the busy has become a quick scoff of processed, terrifyingly orange couscous, […]

The numbers thin out the further we get from London, so I don't feel guilty when I remove my mask momentarily to scoff some of the snacks I'd bought at Marylebone.

Word Forms

• scoffs
• scoffing
• scoffed

Synonyms for scoff

Related Words

When Should You Use Scoff?

Use scoff when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

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