duff
/dʌf/noun, adjective, verb
duff is spelled D-U-F-F: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, duff means “Dough” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of duff is duffs.
How many letters and syllables are in duff?
| Letters | 4: D-U-F-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.3 times per million words; the 18,064th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none 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 duff?
Duff appears 2.3 times per million words in written English, the 18,064th 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 duff?
- US /dʌf/
- Australia /dɐf/
- /dʊf/
Duff 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-duff.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with duff
Also written: daf.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with duff?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as duff 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 duff
- duffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- duffer comparative
- duffest superlative
- duffing participle, present
- duffed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does duff mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
Dough.
- 2
A stiff flour pudding, often with dried fruit, boiled in a cloth bag, or steamed.
The storekeeper had sent them an unbroken case of canned plum pudding, and probably by this time he was wondering what had become of that blanky case of duff.
- 3
A pudding-style dessert, especially one made with plums or (in the Bahamas) guavas.
- 4
ScotlandUSDecaying vegetable matter on the forest floor.
These methods also make it possible for the forest officer to describe and to record his observations in precise terms such as “6% percent duff moisture” rather than in generalities such as “pretty dry duff.”
- 5
Coal dust, especially that left after screening or combined with other small, unsaleable bits of coal.
- 6
Fine and dry coal in small pieces, usually anthracite.
- 7
UKA mixture of coal and rock.
- 8
slangThe bits left in the bottom of the bag after the booty has been consumed, like crumbs.
- 9
Something spurious or fake; a counterfeit; a worthless thing; a defective thing.
- 10
slangAn error.
- 11
USslangThe buttocks.
- 12
Alternative form of daf (“type of drum”).
adjective
- 1
UKWorthless; not working properly, defective.
Why do I always get a shopping trolley with duff wheels?
verb
- 1
obsoleteslangTo disguise something to make it look new.
- 2
obsoleteslangTo sell spurious goods, often under pretence of their being stolen or smuggled.
- 3
AustraliaTo alter the branding of stolen cattle; to steal cattle.
- 4
USTo hit the ground behind the ball.
noun
- 1
derogatoryslangAcronym of dumb/designated ugly fat friend, an attractive woman's less attractive friend.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Duff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 duff come from?
Representing a northern England and Scots pronunciation of dough.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).