Meanings
plural loofahs · alternative loofa · alternative luffa
- Any of several tropical vines of the genus Luffa, having almost cylindrical fruit with a spongy, fibrous interior; the dishcloth gourd.
- Any bath sponge; a sponge on a handle.
present singular third person loofahs · participle present loofahing · participle past loofahed · past loofahed · alternative loofa · alternative luffa
- ambitransitiveTo clean or scrub with a loofah.
And she took good care of my feet, massaging them and loofahing the calluses away.
2006, Scott Dikkers, Peter Hilleren, Destined for Destiny, page 631 more example
I may have snuck in showering myself—plus shaving, loofahing, hair blow-drying, reapplying makeup, changing my outfit five times, and winding up in what I started out with.
2012, Jill Smolinski, Objects of My Affection
Synonyms & antonyms
nounthe dried fibrous part of the fruit of a plant of the genus Luffa; used as a washing sponge or strainer
nounthe loofah climber that has cylindrical fruit
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Arabicلوف
- Arabicلوف
- Englishloofah
Borrowed from Arabic لُوفَة (lūfa).
More words from Arabic
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic لِيف, لُوف
- لِيف (līf)tropical vine
- لُوف (lūf)tropical vine
- لِيف (līf)dried fibrous interior used as a sponge
- لُوف (lūf)dried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Catalan luffa
- luffatropical vine
Chinese Cantonese 水瓜, 勝瓜 /胜瓜
- 水瓜 (seoi² gwaa¹)tropical vine
- 勝瓜 /胜瓜tropical vine
Chinese Mandarin 絲瓜 /丝瓜, 絲瓜絡 /丝瓜络
- 絲瓜 /丝瓜 (sīguā)tropical vine
- 絲瓜絡 /丝瓜络 (sīguāluò)dried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Czech lufa, mycí houba
- lufatropical vine
- mycí houbadried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Dutch luffa
- luffatropical vine
Esperanto lufo
- lufotropical vine
Estonian käsnkõrvits
- käsnkõrvitstropical vine
Finnish pesusienikurkku, pesusieni
- pesusienikurkkutropical vine
- pesusienidried fibrous interior used as a sponge
French loofa, luffa
- loofatropical vine
- luffatropical vine
- loofahdried fibrous interior used as a sponge
German Luffa, Luffaschwamm
- Luffatropical vine
- Luffaschwammdried fibrous interior used as a sponge
- Waschlappendried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Hindi तुरई
- तुरई (turaī)tropical vine
Hungarian luffaszivacs
- luffaszivacsdried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Indonesian luffa
- luffatropical vine
Irish lúfach
- lúfachtropical vine
Italian luffa
- luffatropical vine
Japanese 糸瓜, 天糸瓜
- 糸瓜 (hechima)tropical vine
- 天糸瓜 (hechima)tropical vine
Korean 수세미
- 수세미 (susemi)tropical vine
Malay petola
- petolatropical vine
Persian پیلگوش
- پیلگوش (pilguš)tropical vine
Polish trukwa, gąbka z trukwy
- trukwatropical vine
- gąbka z trukwydried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Punjabi ਤੋਰੀ
- ਤੋਰੀ (torī)tropical vine
Romanian lufa
- lufatropical vine
Russian лю́фа́, лю́ффа
- лю́фа́ (ljúfá)tropical vine
- лю́ффа (ljúffa)tropical vine
- лу́ффа (lúffa)tropical vine
- моча́лка (močálka)dried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Spanish estropajo, lufa
- estropajotropical vine
- lufatropical vine
- estropajodried fibrous interior used as a sponge
- lufadried fibrous interior used as a sponge
- pashtedried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Swahili mdodoki
- mdodokitropical vine
Swedish luffasläktet
- luffasläktettropical vine
Thai บวบ
- บวบ (bùuap)tropical vine
Turkish lif
- lifdried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Ukrainian мачу́лка, моча́лка
- мачу́лка (mačúlka)dried fibrous interior used as a sponge
- моча́лка (močálka)dried fibrous interior used as a sponge
Vietnamese mướp
- mướptropical vine
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with loofah
All rhymes →Cite this entry
loofah. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/loofah
“loofah.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/loofah. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “loofah,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/loofah.
Source: loofah on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.