Meaning & use

scoff

verb·Academic

To speak about something with mocking contempt or scorn, treating it as ridiculous.

See it in a sentence

Critics scoffed at the idea that the tiny startup could compete with giants.

He scoffed at the warning and drove into the storm anyway.

A note on using this word

In British informal use, 'scoff' also means to eat food quickly and greedily, a very different sense.

Words with a similar meaning

mocksneerderide

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

Another way to use it

2. verb

British informal: to eat food quickly and greedily.

The kids scoffed the entire plate of cookies within minutes.

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