oofy

English

WOTD – 10 October 2017

Etymology

American professional poker player Joe Cada after winning the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event

oof +‎ -y. Oof is a clipping of ooftish, from Yiddish אויפֿן טיש (oyfn tish, “on the table”) in the phrase געלט אויפֿן טיש (gelt oyfn tish, “money on the table”).

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈuːfi/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

• (General American) enPR: o͞ofʹē, IPA^(key): /ˈufi/
• Rhymes: -uːfi

Adjective

oofy (comparative more oofy, superlative most oofy)

1. (British, slang, dated) Having lots of oof (money); rich, wealthy.
   • 1896 December, R[ichard] D[oddridge] Blackmore, “Dariel: A Romance of Surrey. Chapter VIII.—Through the Corn.”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLX, number DCCCCLXXIV, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publication Co., 112 Wall Street, →OCLC, page 727, column 1:

     How lucky for me she never can have heard of the glorious Tinman, or my oofy maiden-aunt; wouldn't she have jumped at me, if she had?

   • 1909, J[oseph] Storer Clouston, chapter XI, in The Prodigal Father, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC, page 215:

     Money isn't everything in this world. Youth and love and pluck are the main things. Hang it, what if you do get into debt occasionally? You've got a pretty oofy father-in-law.

   • 1934, P[elham] G[renville] Wodehouse, chapter VII, in Right Ho, Jeeves, London: Herbert Jenkins Limited, 3 Duke of York Street St. James's London S.W.1, →OCLC, page 70:

     This Tom has a peculiarity I've noticed in other very oofy men. Nick him for the paltriest sum, and he lets out a squawk you can hear at Land's End. He has the stuff in gobs, but he hates giving up.

Synonyms

• See Thesaurus:wealthy

Antonyms

• See Thesaurus:impoverished

Related terms

• oof-bird, feathered oof-bird
• oof
• oofiness
• oofless
• ooftish

Anagrams

• yoof