smurf

English

statuettes of smurfs

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch smurf (via the Belgian comic De Smurfen, a translation of French Les Schtroumpfs), from French schtroumpf, a word that was created by Peyo based on German Strumpf (literally “stocking, sock”), either simply because it sounds funny to the French ear or based on a regional German use for “idiot”. Armand van Raalte was an employee for the Belgian publisher of Peyo's stories who felt that schtroumpf would not have the same effect in Dutch, so he tried to find a simple word that could be used both as a noun and a verb. The result was smurf. In other languages, the term was similarly altered; compare the translations below.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smɜːf/, (UK) enPR: smûrf,
• IPA^(key): /smɝf/, (US) enPR: smûrf

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɜː(ɹ)f

Noun

smurf (plural smurfs or (rare) smurves)

1. (comics, fiction) A blue pixie with white stocking cap, from the media franchise The Smurfs.
   • 2021 December 8, Geraldine DeRuiter, “Bros., Lecce: We Eat at The Worst Michelin Starred Restaurant, Ever”, in The Everywhereist‎^[3]:

     He occasionally used the proper noun of the restaurant as an adverb, the way a Smurf would.

2. (Internet slang) A smurf account or its user.
3. (computer security) A smurf attack.
4. (law enforcement, drugs, slang) One member of a team, each of whom acquires a small amount of money or ingredients for manufacturing drugs, keeping the transactions too small in order to not raise suspicion.
   • 1998, Michael D. Lyman, Gary W. Potter, Drugs in Society: Causes, Concepts, and Control, page 202:

     Each smurf goes to different banks and purchases cashier's checks in denominations of less than $ 10,000, thus bypassing the reporting requirement.

   • 2001, Robert E. Grosse, Drugs and Money: Laundering Latin America's Cocaine Dollars, page 73:

     Once the checks and money orders were purchased, the smurfs delivered them to Barrera, who arranged deposits of multiple checks and money orders into bank accounts that he controlled for further transfer to accounts in Panama, Colombia, and elsewhere.

   • 2020, David Heska Wanbli Weiden, Winter Counts, page 22:

     The local cooks would get some smurfs to buy boxes of Sudafed at all the drugstores in a hundred-mile radius, then pay them off in product.

Derived terms

• smurfable
• smurf account
• smurf attack
• Smurfette principle
• smurfy

Translations

fictional character

• Amharic: please add this translation if you can
• Arabic: سَنْفُور m sg (sanfūr), سَنَافِر m pl (sanāfir)
• Armenian: սմուրֆ (smurf), սմուրֆիկ pl (smurfik)
• Basque: pottoki
• Catalan: barrufet (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 藍精靈 / 蓝精灵 (laam⁴ zing¹ ling⁴)

  Mandarin: 藍精靈 / 蓝精灵 (zh) (lán jīnglíng)

• Czech: šmoula (cs) m
• Danish: smølf c
• Dutch: smurf (nl)
• Esperanto: smurfo
• Estonian: smurf
• Finnish: smurffi (fi)
• French: schtroumpf (fr) m
• Georgian: სმურფი (smurpi)
• German: Schlumpf (de) m

  Rhine Franconian: Schlümpp (Hessisch; plural)

• Greek: στρουμφάκι (el) n (stroumfáki)
• Hebrew: דַּרְדָּס m (dardás)
• Hindi: please add this translation if you can
• Hungarian: törp (hu)
• Icelandic: strumpur (is) m
• Irish: please add this translation if you can
• Italian: puffo (it) m
• Japanese: スマーフ (sumāfu), シュトロンフ (shutoronfu)
• Korean: 스머프 (seumeopeu)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Limburgish: smörf (li)
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Macedonian: штрумф m (štrumf)
• Marathi: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: smurf m

  Nynorsk: smurf m

• Polish: smerf (pl) m
• Portuguese: (Portugal) estrumpfe m, estrunfe m, (Brazil) smurf m
• Romanian: ștrumf m
• Russian: смурф m (smurf), штрумф (ru) m (štrumf), штрумпф m (štrumpf)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: штрумф m

  Roman: štrumpf m

• Slovak: šmolko n
• Slovene: smrkec m
• Spanish: pitufo (es) m
• Swedish: smurf (sv) c
• Thai: สเมิร์ฟ (sà-mə̂əf)
• Turkish: şirin (tr)
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: xì trum (vi)
• Walloon: chtroume (wa) m
• Welsh: smyrff m

Verb

smurf (third-person singular simple present smurfs, present participle smurfing, simple past and past participle smurfed)

1. (slang) Used to replace any other verb, as is typical of smurfs.
2. (law enforcement, banking) To split a large financial transaction into smaller ones so as to avoid scrutiny; to carry out structuring.
3. (computer security, transitive) To carry out a smurf attack against someone.
4. (Internet slang) To use a smurf account.
   1. (by extension, intransitive, transitive) To perform exceptionally well, as if one's using a smurf account, playing into much inferior opponents.

      He has been absolutely smurfing this season.

      Holy shit, he smurfed that fight so hard!

Translations

Used to replace any other verb, as is typical of smurfs

• Italian: puffare

Dutch

Etymology

Changed from the original French schtroumpf as described above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smʏrf/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: smurf
• Rhymes: -ʏrf

Noun

smurf m (plural smurfen, diminutive smurfje n)

1. (comics, fiction) smurf

Derived terms

• smurfen
• smurfendebat
• smurfentaal
• smurfin
• smurfs

French

Etymology

1983: after the English name of The Smurfs, via Dutch smurf from French schtroumpf. See above.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smœʁf/

Noun

smurf m (plural smurfs)

1. a sort of breakdancing

   Hypernym: breakdance

Derived terms

• smurfer

Swedish

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch smurf, from French schtroumpf.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /smɵrf/

Noun

smurf c

1. (comics, fiction) smurf

Declension

Declension of smurf

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	smurf	smurfs
	definite	smurfen	smurfens
plural	indefinite	smurfar	smurfars
	definite	smurfarna	smurfarnas

Declension of smurf

		nominative	genitive
singular	indefinite	smurf	smurfs
	definite	smurfen	smurfens
plural	indefinite	smurfer	smurfers
	definite	smurferna	smurfernas

Interjection

smurf

1. jinx

References

• smurf in Svenska Akademiens ordlista (SAOL)