1
a
: a quick puff or slight gust especially of air, odor, gas, smoke, or spray
b
: an inhalation of odor, gas, or smoke
c
: a slight puffing or whistling sound
2
: a slight trace or indication
a whiff of scandal
3
whiffed; whiffing; whiffs
1
: to move with or as if with a puff of air
3
: to inhale an odor
1
2
: fan sense 8
whiffed three batters
Synonyms
Examples of whiff in a Sentence
Noun
I got a whiff of new paint when I entered the room.
I detected a whiff of sarcasm in her voice.
The pitcher had eight whiffs during the game.
Verb
He whiffed a strong odor of perfume.
The golfer nearly whiffed the shot.
The golfer nearly whiffed on the shot.
Recent Examples on the Web
Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2024
Rosetta caught whiffs of glycine (opens a new tab), one of the amino acid building blocks of proteins.
—Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 13 Nov. 2024
David K. Li, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024
With two out after Cole had whiffed Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded, Mookie Betts hit a slow roller to Anthony Rizzo.
—Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for whiff 
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Noun
This too carries a whiff of desperation, as though people are intentionally putting on a brave face and shoving forward symbols of our collective creativity and togetherness.
—Kaitlyn Tiffany, The Atlantic, 21 Nov. 2024
Rosetta caught whiffs of glycine (opens a new tab), one of the amino acid building blocks of proteins.
—Elise Cutts, Quanta Magazine, 13 Nov. 2024
Verb
And in an age of swing-for-the-fences baseball, Soto struck out just 16.7% of the time, while the league whiffed at a 22.2% clip this season.
—David K. Li, NBC News, 13 Nov. 2024
With two out after Cole had whiffed Gavin Lux and Shohei Ohtani with the bases loaded, Mookie Betts hit a slow roller to Anthony Rizzo.
—Barry M. Bloom, Sportico.com, 4 Nov. 2024
See all Example Sentences for whiff
Dictionary Entries Near whiff
Cite this Entry
“Whiff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whiff. Accessed 28 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
whiff
1 of 2 noun
ˈhwif 
ˈwif
1
: a quick puff or slight gust
a whiff of air
2
: a small quantity of odor, gas, or smoke that is breathed in
whiff
2 of 2 verb1
: to blow out or away in small amounts
2
: to breathe in an odor
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