Meanings
plural goofs
present singular third person goofs · participle present goofing · participle past goofed · past goofed
- USTo make a mistake.
It's my fault. I goofed.
1 more example
GCN is in a sticky situation because we goofed and bought 10 pounds of a type of wax that we cannot use.
1986 August 9, “Attention Art World”, in Gay Community News, page 13 - USTo engage in mischief.
We were just goofing by painting the neighbor's cat green.
Synonyms: goof around
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA mistake or error.
nounAn error made during production which finds its way into the final release.
verbTo engage in mischief.
More synonyms by meaning
nouna man who is a stupid incompetent fool
nouna person who amuses others by ridiculous behavior
verbcommit a faux pas or a fault or make a serious mistake
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Frenchgoffe“awkward; stupid”
- Old Englishgaf
- Middle Englishgoffen“to speak in a frivolous manner”
- Englishgoof
Perhaps from dialectal English goff (“foolish clown”), from earlier goffe, in which case further etymology is uncertain. Perhaps from Middle English goffen (“to speak in a frivolous manner”), possibly from Old English gaf, ġegaf (“base; wanton; lewd”, adjective), ġegaf (“buffoonery; scurrility”, noun), gaffetung, golfettung (“buffoonery; mockery”). Compare English dialectal gauffin (“lightheaded; foolish; giddy”), Scots gaff, gawf (“to talk loudly; babble”), Scots gaffaw (“a loud laugh”). Alternatively, perhaps from Middle French goffe (“awkward; stupid”). Compare also Spanish gofo, Italian goffo.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian глупак, гаф
- глупак (glupak)a foolish person
- гаф (gaf)a mistake or error
- обърквам (obărkvam)to make a mistake
- оплесквам (opleskvam)to make a mistake
Czech blbec, pitomec
- blbeca foolish person
- pitomeca foolish person
- botaa mistake or error
- hloupá chybaa mistake or error
- udělat botuto make a mistake
Danish tumpe
- tumpea foolish person
Estonian viga
- vigaa mistake or error
Finnish tollo, hölmö
- tolloa foolish person
- hölmöa foolish person
- mokaa mistake or error
- virhea mistake or error
- munausa mistake or error
- mokatato make a mistake
- möhliäto make a mistake
- tyriäto make a mistake
- töpätäto make a mistake
- jekkuillato engage in mischief
- keppostellato engage in mischief
- metkuillato engage in mischief
- kolttostellato engage in mischief
French coquille, boulet
- coquillean error made during production which finds its way into the final release
- bouleta foolish person
- gaffea mistake or error
German fehlen
- fehlento make a mistake
Italian tonto, fuori di testa
- tontoa foolish person
- fuori di testaa foolish person
- sbaglioa mistake or error
- errorea mistake or error
- sbagliareto make a mistake
- errareto make a mistake
- prendere una cantonatato engage in mischief
Latin erro
- erroto make a mistake
Persian گاف
- گاف (gâf)a mistake or error
Polish bęcwał, babol
- bęcwała foolish person
- babola mistake or error
Portuguese falha, bobo
- falhaan error made during production which finds its way into the final release
- boboa foolish person
- tontoa foolish person
- gafea mistake or error
Russian дура́к, ду́рень
- дура́к (durák)a foolish person
- ду́рень (dúrenʹ)a foolish person
- болва́н (bolván)a foolish person
- остоло́п (ostolóp)a foolish person
- тупи́ца (tupíca)a foolish person
- крети́н (kretín)a foolish person
- лох (lox)a foolish person
- опло́шность (oplóšnostʹ)a mistake or error
- оши́бка (ošíbka)a mistake or error
- растли́тель (rastlítelʹ)child molester
- растли́тельница (rastlítelʹnica)child molester
- педофи́л (pedofíl)child molester
- опростоволо́ситься (oprostovolósitʹsja)to make a mistake
- попада́ть впроса́к (popadátʹ vprosák)to make a mistake
- попа́сть впроса́к (popástʹ vprosák)to make a mistake
Swedish dummerjöns, dummer
- dummerjönsa foolish person
- dummera foolish person
- jönsa foolish person
- dumboma foolish person
- dumskallea foolish person
- fårskallea foolish person
- ärthjärnaa foolish person
- nöta foolish person
- träskallea foolish person
- pappskallea foolish person
- dumsnuta foolish person
- knäppskallea foolish person
- göra en tabbeto make a mistake
- tabbato make a mistake
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with goof
Anagrams
Cite this entry
goof. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goof
“goof.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goof. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “goof,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/goof.
Source: goof on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.