scoff

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“
Yes, she is'--as there was a kind of scoff--'and we are bound on a mission to your King from the King of Scots, and woe to him that touches a feather of ours That may be,' said the one who seemed chief among the English, 'but that gives no licence to fly at the Duke's game, nor slay his foresters for doing their duty.

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Definitions (19)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. transitive verb To mock at or treat with derision.
  2. intransitive verb To show or express derision or scorn.
  3. noun An expression of derision or scorn.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (8)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (3)

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Examples (50)

  • Having come to scoff, they remain to pray,—they rise from their knees only to seek a confessor; and return home that night converted to God, and ever after lead the lives of pious Christians. —  The Life of St. Frances of Rome, and Others
  • Maybe rather than scoff, some of these skeptics should stop yapping and try an experiment or two of their own. —  Howard Owens
  • Beltway elites may scoff, but this rebellion is growing. —  DaddyBlogger.com
  • Do not scoff: this is a branch of aesthetics as worthy as any other, and Turin and Sanchez's prose is a delight, with scents related to the orchestration of Ravel or to Bruckner symphonies. —  Books news, reviews and author interviews | guardian.co.uk
  • While purists may scoff, the cutscenes I witnessed were adequate proof that the plot should add an extra layer of depth and meaning to your actions. —  Computer And Video Games
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This word has been looked up 177 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

gibe ·  jeer ·  taunt ·  raillery ·  jibe ·  ridicule ·  mockery ·  execration ·  incredulity ·  sneer ·  byword ·  buffoonery

Used in the same contextWord Family

scoff:   scoffing ·  scoffed ·  scoffs
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (4)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (2)

  1. Middle English scoffen, from scof, mockery, probably of Scandinavian origin; akin to Danish skof, jest, teasing.
  2. Alteration of obsolete scaff.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English scof, skof (not found in Anglo-Saxon) = OFries. schof, a scoff, taunt; cf. Middle Dutch schobbe, a scoff, sarcasm, schobben, schoppen, scoff, mock, schoffieren, schofferen, disgrace, corrupt, violate, ruin, Danish skuffe, deceive; Icelandic skaup, later skop, mockery, ridicule (skeypa, skopa, scoff, mock, skopan, railing); the forms seem to indicate a confusion of two words; perhaps in part orig. ‘a shove,’ ‘a rub’; cf. Anglo-Saxon scyfe, scife, a pushing, instigation, Swedish skuff, a push, shove, skuffa, push; LG.schubben, rub, = Old High German scupfen, Middle High German schupfen, schüpfen, push: see scuff, shove. Not connected with Greek σκώπτειν, scoff: see scomm.
  2. Cf. Middle Dutch schoffieren, scoff, schobben, schoppen, scoff, = Icelandic skopa, scoff: see scoff, n.
 

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/skɔf/
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