pouf
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English
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]- enPR: po͝of, IPA(key): /pʊf/
- (US)
- Rhymes: -ʊf, -uːf
- Homophones: poof, pouffe (with certain dialects and/or accents)
Etymology 1
[edit]From French pouf, pouff, of imitative origin; compare puff.
Alternative forms
[edit]Noun
[edit]pouf (plural poufs)
- (historical) A headdress for women popular in 18th century France. [from 18th c.]
- A high hair style for women consisting of a roll or pad of hair, worn up. [from 19th c.]
- 2009 February 10, Katie Thomas, “The Poodle Can’t Talk Now; She’s in With Her Stylist”, in New York Times[1]:
- Hosaka, nearly everyone agrees, is a master of detail, an artist who tends his poodles’ poufs as if they were bonsai trees from his native Japan.
- (dressmaking) Part of an item of clothing consisting of gathered fabric in a bunch. [from 19th c.]
- A low cushioned seat with no back; a padded footstool. [from 19th c.]
- Synonym: tumpty
- 1922, H.D., Asphodel:
- The voice came from the end of the divan but Hermione, seated square before the fire on a low pouffe did not turn to face its suave producer.
- 1948, John Creasey, The Case Against Paul Raeburn:
- Raeburn's handsome head was resting against the back of his chair; Eve sat on a pouf in front of the fire.
- 1971 August 26, “Slaughter at the Summer Palace”, in Time:
- Italian Ambassador Amedeo Guillet, who makes it a practice never to eat at midday, lounged on a Moroccan pouf reading The Peter Principle.
- A short skirt gathered into a rounded puffy shape; a puffball. [from 20th c.]
- A ball of fabric (such as nylon monofilament netting) used for washing (as an alternative to a flannel, washcloth, sponge, etc.).
- (dated) A small saddle cushion worn atop the buttocks (as a fashion trend – similar to a bustle).
- Alternative form of puff
- Alternative form of poof
- 1988 August 20, Chris Reed, “The English 'Strip-tique'”, in Gay Community News, volume 16, number 6, page 16:
- The same sort of blatant hypocrisy manifest in a tabloid paper notorious for its daily combination of a topless female centerfold with articles condemning the "immorality" of "poufs" and "queers."
Synonyms
[edit]- (padded footstool): footstool, hassock, ottoman, tumpty
- (homosexual): horse's hoof (rhyming slang), poofta; pooftah; poofter; poof
Derived terms
[edit]Translations
[edit]padded footstool
Verb
[edit]pouf (third-person singular simple present poufs, present participle poufing, simple past and past participle poufed)
- (transitive) To make poufy or bouffant.
- to pouf the hair
Etymology 2
[edit]Imitative.
Alternative forms
[edit]Interjection
[edit]pouf
- Onomatopoeia indicating a cloud of smoke or wind; caused by a deflating object, or a magical disappearance.
- Pouf, he was gone.
Anagrams
[edit]French
[edit]Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]pouf m (plural poufs)
- pouffe (thick cushion)
- a girl of bad conduct
Descendants
[edit]Interjection
[edit]pouf
- poof (onomatopoeia)
Further reading
[edit]- “pouf”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Categories:
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- Rhymes:English/ʊf
- Rhymes:English/ʊf/1 syllable
- Rhymes:English/uːf
- Rhymes:English/uːf/1 syllable
- English terms with homophones
- English terms derived from French
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- English terms with historical senses
- English terms with quotations
- English dated terms
- English verbs
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