whiff

1 of 2

noun

1
a
: a quick puff or slight gust especially of air, odor, gas, smoke, or spray
b
: an inhalation of odor, gas, or smoke
c
: a slight puffing or whistling sound
2
: a slight trace or indication
a whiff of scandal
3

whiff

2 of 2

verb

whiffed; whiffing; whiffs

intransitive verb

1
: to move with or as if with a puff of air
2
: to emit whiffs : puff
3
: to inhale an odor
4

transitive verb

1
a
: to carry or convey by or as if by a whiff : blow
b
: to expel or puff out in a whiff : exhale
2
: fan sense 8
whiffed three batters

Examples of whiff in a Sentence

Noun I got a whiff of new paint when I entered the room. I detected a whiff of sarcasm in her voice. The pitcher had eight whiffs during the game. Verb He whiffed a strong odor of perfume. The golfer nearly whiffed the shot. The golfer nearly whiffed on the shot.
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Elodie’s fight against the dragon has a strong whiff of Things’ otherworldly hells. Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 8 Mar. 2024 Last season, McArthur registered a 35.3% whiff rate with his curveball, per Baseball Savant. Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 8 Mar. 2024 There is joy and fear but not one whiff of slavery. Borys Kit, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Feb. 2024 More whiffs and more strikeouts are goals for 2024. Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 27 Jan. 2024 Her policies often carry a whiff of the ridiculous but are typically based on solid research and are highly effective on social media. Elisabeth Zerofsky, New York Times, 6 Mar. 2024 His pitch-specific whiff rate of 8.4% trailed only Wheeler among qualifiers. Tony Blengino, Forbes, 1 Mar. 2024 Beyond the fastball, all three of Cabrera’s secondary pitches induced whiff rates of at least 30 percent last season: His curveball (38 percent), changeup (36.3 percent) and slider (30.6 percent). Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 28 Feb. 2024 After the host unscrewed the cap, Elordi picked up the candle and gave it a whiff — and even pretended to give it a good slurp, mimicking Keoghan's character in the film. Jen Juneau, Peoplemag, 19 Jan. 2024
Verb
Yankees hitters whiffed three times on seven swings against the pitch, which averaged 89 mph and maxed out at 90.7 mph. Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 1 Mar. 2024 The Munch whiffed on food safety and cleanliness when Florida Department of Agriculture inspector James Zheng and trainee Julio Azpurua dropped by Tuesday. David J. Neal, Miami Herald, 29 Feb. 2024 Reese, a junior power forward, whiffed on two free throws with 38 seconds left in the first overtime. Edward Lee, Baltimore Sun, 10 Feb. 2024 Off the ensuing face-off, Girard launched a shot from just across the mid-ice stripe and Kochetkov whiffed on gloving the puck. Bob Sutton, USA TODAY, 9 Feb. 2024 Strikeouts, 175 of them, have been a problem, though Judge has whiffed at a much higher rate for years. Chuck Murr, Forbes, 12 Feb. 2024 The Aztecs have done the first two things but whiffed on their first two road encounters against the Mountain West’s top tier, getting drilled at New Mexico and fading down the stretch at Boise State. Mark Zeigler, San Diego Union-Tribune, 30 Jan. 2024 The Oscars had all but whiffed on the biggest movie of the year. Michael Schulman, The New Yorker, 23 Jan. 2024 Also, both of the pollsters cited above have whiffed in past races. Philip Klein, National Review, 10 Jan. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'whiff.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun

imitative

First Known Use

Noun

1591, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1591, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of whiff was in 1591

Dictionary Entries Near whiff

Cite this Entry

“Whiff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whiff. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

whiff

1 of 2 noun
ˈhwif How to pronounce whiff (audio)
ˈwif
1
: a quick puff or slight gust
a whiff of air
2
: a small quantity of odor, gas, or smoke that is breathed in

whiff

2 of 2 verb
1
: to blow out or away in small amounts
2
: to breathe in an odor

More from Merriam-Webster on whiff

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