puff means "a short light gust of air". That is the primary sense; the word has 17 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in puff?

puff has 1 syllable: puff. In IPA it is /ˈpʌf/.

What is another word for puff?

Close synonyms include puff of air, whiff, quilt, comforter, comfort. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is puff a common word?

puff is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

puff — meaning, pronunciation and 17 definitions

noun

8 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a short light gust of air
Synonymspuff of air whiff
Broadergust
2.
a light inflated pastry or puff shell
Broaderpastry
Narrowercream puff
3.
exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes)
Broaderrecommendation
4.
bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together
Synonymsquilt comforter comfort
Broaderbedclothes
Narrowereiderdown patchwork
5.
a soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers; for applying powder to the skin
Synonymspowderpuff
Broaderpad
6.
thick cushion used as a seat
Synonymsottoman pouf pouffe hassock
Broaderseat
7.
a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)
“he took a puff on his pipe”
“he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly”
Synonymsdrag pull
Broaderinhalation
Narrowertoke
Part ofsmoke
8.
forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth
“he gave his nose a loud blow”
“he blew out all the candles with a single puff”
Synonymsblow
Broaderexhalation
Narrowerinsufflation

verb

8 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
smoke and exhale strongly
“puff a cigar”
“whiff a pipe”
Synonymswhiff
Broadersmoke
2.
suck in or take (air)
“draw a deep breath”
“draw on a cigarette”
Synonymsdrag draw
Broaderinhale
3.
breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
“The runners reached the finish line, panting heavily”
Synonymspant gasp heave
Broaderblow
4.
make proud or conceited
“The sudden fame puffed her ego”
Broaderelate
5.
praise extravagantly
“The critics puffed up this Broadway production”
Synonymspuff up
Broaderpraise
6.
speak in a blustering or scornful manner
“A puffing kind of man”
Broaderboast
7.
to swell or cause to enlarge
“Her faced puffed up from the drugs”
“puffed out chests”
Synonymspuff up blow up puff out
Broaderswell
8.
blow hard and loudly
“he huffed and puffed as he made his way up the mountain”
Synonymshuff chuff
Broaderblow

adjective

1 senseA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
gathered for protruding fullness
“puff sleeves”
Synonymspuffed
Similarfancy

Other forms of puff

plural: puffs·
past tense: puffed·
present participle: puffing·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about puff

What does puff mean?: puff means "a short light gust of air". That is the primary sense; the word has 17 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in puff?: puff has 1 syllable: puff. In IPA it is /ˈpʌf/.
What is another word for puff?: Close synonyms include puff of air, whiff, quilt, comforter, comfort. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is puff a common word?: puff is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for puff come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.

noun

8 sensesA person, place, thing, quality or idea.

1.
a short light gust of air
Synonymspuff of air whiff
Broadergust
2.
a light inflated pastry or puff shell
Broaderpastry
Narrowercream puff
3.
exaggerated praise (as for promotional purposes)
Broaderrecommendation
4.
bedding made of two layers of cloth filled with stuffing and stitched together
Synonymsquilt comforter comfort
Broaderbedclothes
Narrowereiderdown patchwork
5.
a soft spherical object made from fluffy fibers; for applying powder to the skin
Synonymspowderpuff
Broaderpad
6.
thick cushion used as a seat
Synonymsottoman pouf pouffe hassock
Broaderseat
7.
a slow inhalation (as of tobacco smoke)
“he took a puff on his pipe”
“he took a drag on his cigarette and expelled the smoke slowly”
Synonymsdrag pull
Broaderinhalation
Narrowertoke
Part ofsmoke
8.
forceful exhalation through the nose or mouth
“he gave his nose a loud blow”
“he blew out all the candles with a single puff”
Synonymsblow
Broaderexhalation
Narrowerinsufflation

verb

8 sensesAn action, occurrence or state of being.

1.
smoke and exhale strongly
“puff a cigar”
“whiff a pipe”
Synonymswhiff
Broadersmoke
2.
suck in or take (air)
“draw a deep breath”
“draw on a cigarette”
Synonymsdrag draw
Broaderinhale
3.
breathe noisily, as when one is exhausted
“The runners reached the finish line, panting heavily”
Synonymspant gasp heave
Broaderblow
4.
make proud or conceited
“The sudden fame puffed her ego”
Broaderelate
5.
praise extravagantly
“The critics puffed up this Broadway production”
Synonymspuff up
Broaderpraise
6.
speak in a blustering or scornful manner
“A puffing kind of man”
Broaderboast
7.
to swell or cause to enlarge
“Her faced puffed up from the drugs”
“puffed out chests”
Synonymspuff up blow up puff out
Broaderswell
8.
blow hard and loudly
“he huffed and puffed as he made his way up the mountain”
Synonymshuff chuff
Broaderblow

adjective

1 senseA word that describes or qualifies a noun.

1.
gathered for protruding fullness
“puff sleeves”
Synonymspuffed
Similarfancy

Other forms of puff

plural: puffs·
past tense: puffed·
present participle: puffing·

Questions about puff

What does puff mean?: puff means "a short light gust of air". That is the primary sense; the word has 17 in total, listed in full on this page.
How many syllables are in puff?: puff has 1 syllable: puff. In IPA it is /ˈpʌf/.
What is another word for puff?: Close synonyms include puff of air, whiff, quilt, comforter, comfort. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.
Is puff a common word?: puff is banded "Familiar" — widely understood, used when the subject calls for it. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.

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puff

noun

verb

adjective

Other forms of puff

Questions about puff

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Images & video

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puff

noun

verb

adjective

Other forms of puff

Questions about puff