scoff
/skɔːf/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.78 in modern English
13
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "VVith ſcoffes and ſcornes, and contumelious taunts, / In open Market-place produc't they me, / To be a publique ſpectacle to all: / Here, ſayd they, is the Terror of the French, / The Scar-Crovv that affrights our Children ſo."
- ""I believe you've killed that constable in the exercise of his duty, sir; the man's dead;" said Lowe, sternly. / "Another gloss on my text; why invade me like house-breakers?" said Dangerfield, with a grim scoff."
- "There were sneers, and scoffs, and inuendoes of some; prophecies of failure in a hundred ways […]"
- "[T]he scoff of wither'd age and beardless youth […]"
- "Truth from his lips prevailed with double sway, / And fools who came to scoff, remained to pray."
- "Lunch for the busy has become a quick scoff of processed, terrifyingly orange couscous, […]"
Etymology
From Middle English scof, skof, probably of North Germanic origin. Compare Old Norse skaup, Old Danish skof, Old Frisian skof (“insult, shame”), and Old High German scoph.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: scof, -
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /skɔːf/
- British English: /skɒf/