waft
/wɑft/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.38 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A light breeze.
noun
Something (such as an odor or perfume) that is carried through the air.
Example Sentences
- "A breeze came in through the open window and wafted her sensuous perfume into my eager nostrils."
- "I will sing of stately Aphrodite, gold-crowned and beautiful, whose dominion is the walled cities of all sea-set Cyprus. There the moist breath of the western wind wafted her over the waves of the loud-moaning sea in soft foam, and there the gold-filleted Hours welcomed her joyously."
- "Through the open window of the church the fragrant incense was wafted and with it the fragrant names of her who was conceived without stain of original sin […]"
- "The experiment was abandoned when one fine day spontaneous combustion of the pulverised coal in the container occurred, and a black cloud of the very finely divided fuel rose into the air by the force of the explosion, and was slowly wafted by the prevailing breeze over the town, upon which it descended with the resemblance of black snow, but with the dissimilarity that it did not melt."
- "The enticing, homey scent of apple pie wafted into the hallway as she beckoned them into her lair."
- "Dele Alli, playing with a peacock-like spread of feathers, wafted one chance over an exposed net for a miss that was completely out of place with the rest of his display."
Etymology
From Middle English waften, of uncertain origin. Possibly from unattested Old English *wafettan, from wafian (“to wave”) + -ettan, or perhaps borrowed from Middle Dutch wachten (“to guard, provide for”). See also German wabern (“to waft”), Faroese veiftra (“to wave”) and Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt”).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: waften, wachten
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /wɑft/
- British English: /wɒft/