muff

See also: Muff

English

A painting of a woman using a muff (sense 1)

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation, General American) IPA^(key): /mʌf/
• (Australia, New Zealand) IPA^(key): /mɐf/

  • Audio (Australia):

    (file)

• (Northern England) IPA^(key): /mʊf/
• Rhymes: -ʌf

Etymology 1

Probably from Dutch mof (“muff, mitten”).

Noun

muff (plural muffs)

1. A piece of fur or cloth, usually open at both ends, used to keep the hands warm.
   • 1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, chapter I, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC:

     Selwyn, sitting up rumpled and cross-legged on the floor, after having boloed Drina to everybody's exquisite satisfaction, looked around at the sudden rustle of skirts to catch a glimpse of a vanishing figure—a glimmer of ruddy hair and the white curve of a youthful face, half-buried in a muff.

2. (vulgar slang) The vulva or vagina; pubic hair around it.

   Synonyms: muffin; see also Thesaurus:vagina.

3. (synecdochic, vulgar slang) A woman or girl.
4. (glassblowing) A blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet.
5. The feathers sticking out from both sides of the face under the beak of some birds.
6. A short hollow cylinder surrounding an object such as a pipe.

Synonyms

• whiskers, beard, muff and beard (bird feathers):

Derived terms

• earmuff
• furry muff
• hairy muff
• marry-muff
• muff diver
• muff-diving
• muff pistol
• twiddle muff

Translations

a piece of fur or cloth for keeping the hands warm

• Belarusian: му́фта f (múfta), мутэ́рка f (mutérka)
• Bulgarian: маншон m (manšon)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 手籠 / 手笼 (shǒulóng)

• Czech: rukávník (cs) m
• Dutch: mof (nl) f
• Finnish: puuhka (fi), muhvi (fi)
• French: manchon (fr) m
• German: Muff (de) m
• Hungarian: muff (hu)
• Icelandic: múffa f
• Ingrian: mufta
• Italian: manicotto (it) m
• Japanese: マフ (ja) (mafu)
• Korean: 토시 (ko) (tosi), 머프 (meopeu)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: muffe m or f

  Nynorsk: muffe f

• Polish: mufka (pl) f
• Portuguese: regalo (pt) m
• Russian: му́фта (ru) f (múfta)
• Serbo-Croatian: rukovnica f
• Spanish: manguito m
• Ukrainian: му́фта f (múfta)

pubic hair

• Finnish: pehko (fi) (slang), tussu (fi) (slang)
• French: toison (fr) f, touffe (fr) f (slang)
• Italian: pelo pubico, fica (it) f
• Portuguese: pentelho (pt) m
• Russian: мохнатка (ru) f (moxnatka) (slang)

a blown cylinder of glass which is afterward flattened out to make a sheet

a short hollow cylinder surrounding an object such as a pipe

• Bulgarian: муфа (bg) f (mufa)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 套筒 (zh) (tàotǒng)

• Russian: муфта (ru) (mufta)

References

• “muff, n.1.”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “muff”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Etymology 2

Unknown; perhaps a specialised use of Etymology 1, above; or perhaps related to Dutch muffen (“to dote”) and German muffen (“to sulk”).

Noun

muff (plural muffs)

1. (colloquial) A fool, a stupid or poor-spirited person. [from 19th c.]
   • 1860, William Makepeace Thackeray, Lovel the Widower:

     Can you fancy that such an old creature (an old muff, as you call him, you wicked, satirical man!) could ever make en impression on my heart?

   • 1901, E. Nesbit, The Wouldbegoods:

     […]being good is so much like being a muff, generally.

2. (slang, chiefly sports) An error, a mistake; a failure to hold a ball when once in the hands. [from 19th c.]
3. A bird, the whitethroat.

Translations

an error

• Bulgarian: пропуск (bg) m (propusk)
• Italian: fallo (it) m
• Swedish: tabbe (sv) c

Verb

muff (third-person singular simple present muffs, present participle muffing, simple past and past participle muffed)

1. (sports) To drop or mishandle (the ball, a catch etc.); to play badly. [from 19th c.]
2. To mishandle; to bungle. [from 1920s]

   The play got off to a bad start when the actresses muffed the opening lines.

   • 1953, C. S. Lewis, The Silver Chair:

     But then, supposing this was the real sign? … They had muffed three already; they daren’t muff the fourth.

   • 1977, Alistair Horne, A Savage War of Peace, New York: Review Books, published 2006, page 69:

     Here was the superlative opportunity to make a generous and lasting settlement from a position of strength; but the pieds noirs, like the Israelis, and from not altogether dissimilar motives, were to muff it.

Derived terms

• muff up

Translations

in American football, to drop or mishandle the ball

• Bulgarian: изпускам (bg) (izpuskam)

by extension, to mishandle any situation

• Bulgarian: оплесквам (bg) (opleskvam)
• Finnish: tunaroida (fi), möhliä (fi), töpätä (fi)

Etymology 3

Clipping of muffin.

Noun

muff (plural muffs)

1. (slang) A muffin.
   • 2010, Lindsay G. Arthur, The Litigators, page 63:

     Skinny lattes and a couple of blueberry muffs.

2. (slang, rare) A term of endearment.
   • 1996 October 13, JD, “Restless Pt. 2”, in alt.sex.stories‎^[1] (Usenet), archived from the original on 13 April 2026:

     “They’re^[sic] ARE thinking how sexy you look, Muff”. She heard it as plain as day. She turned, half expecting to see her Jim grinning at her. […] “Oh James!” Marsha smiled, […]

   • 2000 April 2, Minaka Dee Delight, “Here's a Hentai Fanfiction”, in alt.hentai.sailor-moon‎^[2] (Usenet), archived from the original on 13 April 2026:

     Darien started lovin' her. "Oh yes, please more Muffin." Serena licked her lips. […] "OH YOUR^[sic] MY MINX." "AND YOUR MY MUFF."

   • 2017 October 23, JB Salsbury, “Braeden”, in The Final Fight (Fighting; 8), published 2023, →ISBN:

     “Hello?” / “Hey, muff.” / “Ew.” She laughs and the sound shoots straight between my legs. “I didn’t think you could make muffin worse, but you did it. Congratulations.”

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [mʊf]

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

Verb

muff

1. singular imperative of muffen
2. (colloquial) first-person singular present of muffen

Hungarian

Etymology

From German Muff, from Dutch mof ("muff"), from Middle Dutch moffel, from Middle French moufle ("mitten"), from Medieval Latin muffula ("fur-lined glove"), of unknown origin.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmufː]
• Hyphenation: muff
• Rhymes: -ufː

Noun

muff (plural muffok)

1. (archaic) muff (handwarmer)
2. (slang) vagina
3. (slang) woman

Declension

Inflection (stem in -o-, back harmony)

	singular	plural
nominative	muff	muffok
accusative	muffot	muffokat
dative	muffnak	muffoknak
instrumental	muffal	muffokkal
causal-final	muffért	muffokért
translative	muffá	muffokká
terminative	muffig	muffokig
essive-formal	muffként	muffokként
essive-modal	—	—
inessive	muffban	muffokban
superessive	muffon	muffokon
adessive	muffnál	muffoknál
illative	muffba	muffokba
sublative	muffra	muffokra
allative	muffhoz	muffokhoz
elative	muffból	muffokból
delative	muffról	muffokról
ablative	mufftól	muffoktól
non-attributive possessive – singular	muffé	muffoké
non-attributive possessive – plural	mufféi	muffokéi

Possessive forms of muff

possessor	single possession	multiple possessions
1st person sing.	muffom	muffjaim
2nd person sing.	muffod	muffjaid
3rd person sing.	muffja	muffjai
1st person plural	muffunk	muffjaink
2nd person plural	muffotok	muffjaitok
3rd person plural	muffjuk	muffjaik

Further reading

• muff in Géza Bárczi, László Országh, et al., editors, A magyar nyelv értelmező szótára [The Explanatory Dictionary of the Hungarian Language] (ÉrtSz.), Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 1959–1962. Fifth ed., 1992: →ISBN.

Swedish

Etymology

From German Muffe, a Low German subform of Muff.

Noun

muff c

1. a muff (for keeping hands warm)
2. a sleeve ((tubular) covering or lining, e.g. for connecting pipes)
3. (slang) muff (female pubic hair, female genitalia)

Declension

Declension of muff

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	muff	muffs
	definite	muffen	muffens
plural	indefinite	muffar	muffars
	definite	muffarna	muffarnas

Derived terms

• rattmuff (“steering wheel cover made of fabric”)

References

• “muff”, in Svensk ordbok [Dictionary of Swedish] (in Swedish)
• “muff”, in Svenska Akademiens ordlista [Wordlist of the Swedish Academy] (in Swedish)
• Fula Ordboken