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PlainSpell

puff

/pʌf/noun, verb

puff is spelled P-U-F-F: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, puff means “A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of puff is puffs.

How many letters and syllables are in puff?

Letters4: P-U-F-F
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing3.5 times per million words; the 13,897th 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 puff?

Puff appears 3.5 times per million words in written English, the 13,897th 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 puff?

  • US /pʌf/
  • Australia /pɐf/
  • /pʊf/

Puff 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-puff.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with puff?

The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as puff 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 puff

  • puffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • puffing participle, present
  • puffed participle, past

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

What does puff mean?

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

noun

  1. 1

    A sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath through the mouth.

  2. 2

    slangThe ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself.

    out of puff

  3. 3

    A small quantity of gas or smoke in the air.

    puff of smoke

  4. 4

    A sudden but small gust of wind, smoke, etc.

  5. 5

    informalAn act of inhaling smoke from a cigarette, cigar or pipe.

  6. 6

    slangThe drug cannabis.

  7. 7

    A flamboyant or alluring statement of praise.

  8. 8

    A portion of fabric gathered up so as to be left full in the middle.

    a sleeve with a puff at the shoulder

verb

  1. 1

    To emit smoke, gas, etc., in puffs.

  2. 2

    To pant.

  3. 3

    archaicTo advertise.

  4. 4

    To blow as an expression of scorn.

  5. 5

    To swell with air; to be dilated or inflated.

  6. 6

    To breathe in a swelling, inflated, or pompous manner; hence, to assume importance.

  7. 7

    To drive with a puff, or with puffs.

  8. 8

    To repel with words; to blow at contemptuously.

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

Puff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchsouffle (sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath…), bouffée (small quantity of gas or smoke in the air), taffe, latte (informal: act of inhaling smoke from a…)
GermanHauch, Atemstoß, Windstoß (sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath…), Sprühstoß (small quantity of gas or smoke in the air), Puste, Atem (ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself)
Portuguesesopro (sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath…), baforada (small quantity of gas or smoke in the air), pitada (informal: act of inhaling smoke from a…), fôlego (ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself), erva, maconha (slang: cannabis)
Spanishbocanada, vaharada (sharp exhalation of a small amount of breath…), chupada, fumada (informal: act of inhaling smoke from a…), resuello (ability to breathe easily while exerting oneself)

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 puff come from?

From Middle English puff, puf, from Old English pyf (“a blast of wind, puff”), from Proto-West Germanic *puf(f)- (“to blow, puff”), of imitative origin. Cognate with Dutch puf (“puff, wind, fart”), Middle Low German puf, pof (“puff”).

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

What to look up after puff