oomph

English

Etymology

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʊmf/, /umf/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊmf, -uːmf

Noun

oomph (countable and uncountable, plural oomphs)

1. (informal, uncountable) Strength, power, passion or effectiveness; clout.

   Use a mild cleanser, but pick something with enough oomph to do the job.

   • 1982 August, Douglas Adams, chapter 30, in Life, the Universe and Everything (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy; 3), London: Pan Books, →ISBN:

     "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."

   • 2022, Christina Tosi, All About Cookies: A Milk Bar Baking Book, New York, NY: Clarkson Potter, →ISBN, page 53:

     Adding layers of texture to a cookie by folding in ground-down bits of goodness is one of our favorite ways to pack a big punch, but you need to choose your fighter wisely. If you pick something too smooth, your cookie won't gain any oomph, and if you choose something too flavorful, your cookie may end up overwhelming (sorry, Flamin' Hot Cheetos).

2. (informal, uncountable) Sex appeal.
   • 1974, John le Carré, chapter 28, in Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy:

     'Come to think of it, the girl looked a bit like Ann,' Jerry reflected. 'Foxy, know what I mean? Garbo eyes, lots of oomph.'

3. (countable) A bassy grunting or thudding sound.

Synonyms

• (force or power): welly

Translations

strength, power, passion or effectiveness; clout

• Afrikaans: oemf
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 精力 (zh) (jīnglì) (uncountable), 气质 (zh) (qìzhì) (uncountable), 力气 (zh) (lìqi) (uncountable)

• Dutch: animo (nl), geestdrift (nl), vitaliteit (nl),
• Finnish: puhti (fi)
• German: Pep (de) m, Schwung (de) m, Schneid (de) m or f
• Polish: energia (pl) f, ikra (pl) f, siła (pl) f
• Russian: сила (ru) f (sila), усилие (ru) n (usilije), напряжение (ru) n (naprjaženije)

sex appeal

• Dutch: aantrekkingskracht (nl), sex-appeal (nl)
• German: Feuer (de) n, Ausstrahlung (de) f
• Polish: seksapil (pl) m

a bassy grunting or thudding sound

• German: Bums m, Stampfen n
• Polish: burknięcie n, chrząknięcie (pl) n

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} garra (es) f, ^{(please verify)} marcha (es) f (Spain)

Verb

oomph (third-person singular simple present oomphs, present participle oomphing, simple past and past participle oomphed)

1. (intransitive) To produce a bassy grunting or thudding sound.

Further reading

• Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “oomph”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.