whiff

/wɪf/noun, verb, adjective, interjection

whiff is spelled W-H-I-F-F: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, whiff means “A brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of whiff is whiffs.

How many letters and syllables are in whiff?

Letters	5: W-H-I-F-F
Syllables	1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing	1.7 times per million words; the 21,798th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searched	none measured in search
Rhymes with	sniff tiff quiff miff

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 whiff?

Whiff appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,798th most frequent word form in the list.

whiff0.0010.010.11101001,00010,000

rarerper million words of written Englishmore common

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

How do you pronounce whiff?

US /wɪf/
/ʍɪf/
/wəf/

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

What rhymes with whiff?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as whiff from its last stressed vowel (/ɪf/):

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 whiff

whiffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
whiffing participle, present
whiffed participle, past
more whiff comparative
most whiff superlative

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

What does whiff mean?

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

noun

1
A brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air; a waft.
2
A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
3
archaicA cigarette or small cigar.
4
An odour (usually unpleasant) carried briefly through the air.
5
A small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.; specifically (obsolete), chiefly in take the whiff: a puff of tobacco smoke.
6
A flag used as a signal.
7
Any of a number of flatfish such as (dated) the lemon sole (Microstomus kitt) and now, especially, the megrim (Lepidorhombus whiffiagonis) and (with a descriptive word) a species of large-tooth flounder or sand flounder (family Paralichthyidae).
8
A slight sign of something; a burst, a glimpse, a hint.

verb

1
To carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air; to blow, puff, or waft away.
2
To say (something) with an exhalation of breath.
3
To inhale or exhale (smoke from tobacco, etc.) from a cigarette, pipe, or other smoking implement; to smoke (a cigarette, pipe, etc.); to puff.
4
To breathe in or sniff (an odour); to smell.
5
archaicdatedslangTo shoot (someone) with a firearm; hence, to assassinate or kill (someone).
6
USslangOf a pitcher: to strike out (a batter); to fan.
7
obsoleteTo consume (an alcoholic beverage).
8
To move in a way that causes a light gust of air, or a whistling sound.

adjective

1
informalHaving a strong or unpleasant odour.

interjection

1
Used to indicate a sound like that of air passing through a small opening, that is, a short or soft whistle.