# whiff

> English word · Noun · IPA /(h)wɪf/ · frequency rank #21,978

## Definitions
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. A short inhalation or exhalation of breath, especially when accompanied by smoke from a cigarette or pipe.
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.
9. A slight attack or touch.
10. A characteristic quality of something; a flavour, a savour, a taste.
11. A sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle.
12. A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss.
13. A failure to hit a ball in various sports (for example, golf); a miss.
14. An expulsion of explosive or shot.
15. An outrigged boat for one person propelled by oar.
16. A sip of an alcoholic beverage.

## Etymology
The noun is possibly:
* partly a variant of Middle English wef, weffe (“bad smell, stench, stink; exhalation; vapour; tendency of something to go bad (?)”) [and other forms], possibly a variant of either:
** waf, waif, waife (“odour, scent”), possibly from waven (“to move to and fro, sway, wave; to stray, wander; to move in a weaving manner; (figuratively) to hesitate, vacillate”), from Old English wafian (“to wave”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”); or
** wef (“a blow, stroke”), from weven (“to travel, wander; to move to and fro, flutter, waver; to blow something away, waft; to cause something to move; to fall; to cut deeply; to sever; to give up, yield; to give deference to; to avoid; to afflict, trouble; to beckon, signal”); further etymology uncertain, perhaps from Old English wefan (“to weave”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *webʰ- (“to braid, weave”)), or from wǣfan (see bewǣfan, ymbwǣfan); and
* partly onomatopoeic.
Noun sense 6 (“name of a number of flatfish”) is possibly derived from sense 1 (“brief, gentle breeze; a light gust of air”), sense 4 (“small quantity of cloud, smoke, vapour, etc.”), and other such senses.
The verb and adjective are derived from the noun. Verb sense 2.6 (“to catch fish by dragging a handline near the surface of the water from a moving boat”) is possibly derived from sense 1.1 (“to carry or convey (something) by, or as by, a whiff or puff of air”), sense 2.2 (“to be carried, or move as if carried, by a puff of air”), and other such senses.
The interjection is derived from noun sense 7.4 (“a sound like that of air passing through a small opening; a short or soft whistle”).

## Easily confused with
- **wife** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-wife)
- **whip** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whip)
- **WiFi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-wifi)
- **whim** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whim)
- **whit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whit)
- **whig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whig)
- **whiz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whiz)
- **while** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-while)
- **white** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-white)
- **whine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whine)
- **whisk** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whisk)
- **whirl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whirl)
- **whiny** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/whiff-vs-whiny)
- **which** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/which-vs-whiff)
- **wharf** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/wharf-vs-whiff)
- **waifu** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/waifu-vs-whiff)

## Common misspellings (6)
`hwiff`, `whfif`, `whhiff`, `whif`, `wihff`, `wwhiff`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/whiff