huff /hʌf/verb 8noun 4forms 3phrases 2 verb8 •To breathe heavily.The run left him huffing and puffing. •To bluster or swell with anger, arrogance, or pride; to storm; to take offense.This senseless arrogant conceit of theirs made them huff at the doctrine of repentance. — 1691 •To say in a huffy manner. •To inhale psychoactive inhalants. •To treat with arrogance and insolence; to chide or rebuke rudely; to bully, to hector.[…] I was sent for by the marshall, huffed and hectored strangely, thretned, &c., in fine, muste give bonds to the good behaviour; I refused, […] — 1684 •To remove an opponent's piece as a forfeit for deliberately not taking a piece (often signalled by blowing on it). •To enlarge; to swell up.Bread huffs. •(no longer used) To vex; to offend. noun4 •A heavy breath; a grunt or sigh.With a huff, he lifted the box onto the back of the truck. •A condition of anger, annoyance, disgust, etc.Tom Bower’s 2024 book, The House of Beckham, painted a rather snide portrait of the marriage, in which Beckham is constantly surrounded by lovelies, and Victoria is in a constant huff about it. — 2025 •The act of removing an opponent's piece as a forfeit for deliberately not taking a piece (often signalled by blowing on it). •(no longer used) One swelled with a false sense of importance or value; a boaster.Lewd, shallow-brained huffs make atheism and contempt of religion the sole badge [...] of wit. — 1667 formshuffed · huffing · huffs Phrases with huff huff offTo leave in a huff take huffTo take offence.
