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PlainSpell

buff

/bʌf/noun, adjective, verb

buff is spelled B-U-F-F: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, buff means “Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of buff is buffs.

How many letters and syllables are in buff?

Letters4: B-U-F-F
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.9 times per million words; the 13,127th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is buff?

Buff appears 3.9 times per million words in written English, the 13,127th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce buff?

  • US /bʌf/
  • Australia /bɐf/
  • /bʊf/

Buff has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-buff.ogg, En-au-BUFF.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with buff?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as buff from its last stressed vowel (/ʌf/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of buff

  • buffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • buffer comparative
  • more buff comparative
  • buffest superlative
  • most buff superlative
  • buffing participle, present
  • buffed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does buff mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals.

  2. 2

    A tool, often one covered with buff leather, used for polishing.

  3. 3

    A brownish yellow colour.

  4. 4

    A military coat made of buff leather.

  5. 5

    informalA person who is very interested in a particular subject.

    He’s a real history buff. He knows everything there is to know about the civil war.

  6. 6

    A change introduced in a patch that makes a character, item, or attack stronger.

  7. 7

    An effect that makes a character or item stronger.

    I just picked up an epic damage buff! Let's go gank the other team!

  8. 8

    Compressive coupler force that occurs during a slack bunched condition.

  9. 9

    informalA buffalo, or the meat of a buffalo.

  10. 10

    obsoleteA strike; a blow.

  11. 11

    Alternative form of buffe (“face armor”).

    For they had helmets on their heads, fashioned like wild beast's necks, and strange beavers or buffs to the same, and wore on their helmets great high plumes of feathers, as they had been wings : […]

adjective

  1. 1

    Of the color of buff leather, a brownish yellow.

  2. 2

    colloquialUnusually muscular.

    The bouncer was a big, buff dude with tattoos, a shaved head, and a serious scowl.

  3. 3

    slangPhysically attractive.

verb

  1. 1

    To polish and make shiny by rubbing.

    He was already buffing the car's hubs.

  2. 2

    To make a character or an item stronger.

    The enchanter buffed the paladin to prepare him to fight the dragon.

  3. 3

    To modify a medical chart, especially in a dishonest manner.

  4. 4

    slangTo remove (graffiti), particularly when done by someone who is not a graffiti writer.

  5. 5

    archaicslangTo strip to the bare skin.

  6. 6

    To strike.

  7. 7

    obsoleteTo stammer, stutter

noun

as BUFF
  1. 1

    USslangAcronym of big ugly fat fellow (or fucker), US Air Force nickname for the B-52 bomber.

noun

as Buff
  1. 1

    UKA member of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment).

  2. 2

    Clipping of Buffalo nickel.

  3. 3

    UKslangA member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes.

  4. 4

    slangA Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strategic bomber aircraft.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Buff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchmordu, passionné, aficionado (a person who is very interested in a particular…), chamois (a brownish yellow colour), balèze, baraqué (unusually muscular)
GermanFan, Enthusiast (a person who is very interested in a particular…), muskulös, durchtrainiert (unusually muscular), attraktiv, gut aussehend (physically attractive)
Spanishaficionado (a person who is very interested in a particular…), color del ante (a brownish yellow colour), mejora, beneficio, bruñido, bruñimiento (in video games)
Portuguesebombado (unusually muscular), atraente (physically attractive)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does buff come from?

From buffe (“leather”), from Middle French buffle (“buffalo”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after buff