duffer
/ˈdʌfɚ/noun, adjective
duffer is spelled D-U-F-F-E-R: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 82,325th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, duffer means “An incompetent, indolent, or clumsy person” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of duffer is duffers.
How many letters and syllables are in duffer?
| Letters | 6: D-U-F-F-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 8 million words; the 82,325th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
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 duffer?
Duffer appears about once in every 8 million words in written English, the 82,325th 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 duffer?
- US /ˈdʌfɚ/
- UK /ˈdʌfə/
Duffer has 2 syllables (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-us-duffer.ogg, EN-AU_ck1_duffer.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with duffer?
7 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as duffer from its last stressed vowel (/ʌfəɹ/):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: ruffed.
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 duffer
- duffers plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does duffer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
informalAn incompetent, indolent, or clumsy person.
- 2
A player having little skill, especially a golfer who duffs.
- 3
archaicA pedlar or hawker, especially one selling cheap or substandard goods.
- 4
archaicCheap or substandard goods sold by a duffer.
- 5
archaicAnything substandard, such as a counterfeit or a defective instance.
- 6
datedA cow that does not produce milk or produces substantially less than her peers do.
- 7
AustraliadatedA cattle thief or thief of other livestock; one who alters the brands of cattle.
- 8
A racing pigeon that does not perform well.
adjective
- 1
comparative form of duff: more duff
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Duffer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense incompetent or clumsy person:
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.