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
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
Gene Maddaus, Variety, 31 Mar. 2025
Milne accompanied her husband — who died in 2015 — to a support group and caught a whiff of the inside of someone’s coat.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 30 Mar. 2025
Chandler Rome, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
In my hands-on time with the game, whiffing a flight up a geyser and taking quite some time to plummet back to the ground felt like jumping off a mountain in a Forza Horizon.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whiff
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Noun
According to an arbitration ruling, executives feared that any whiff of negativity would be picked up by the South Korean media, and that bad publicity could empower a group of dissident shareholders.
—Gene Maddaus, Variety, 31 Mar. 2025
Milne accompanied her husband — who died in 2015 — to a support group and caught a whiff of the inside of someone’s coat.
—Cara Lynn Shultz, People.com, 30 Mar. 2025
Verb
His 25 percent chase rate is lower than the league average, too, but that Smith is whiffing at a 43.8 percent clip must elicit some concern.
—Chandler Rome, New York Times, 7 Apr. 2025
In my hands-on time with the game, whiffing a flight up a geyser and taking quite some time to plummet back to the ground felt like jumping off a mountain in a Forza Horizon.
—Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 4 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for whiff
Cite this Entry
“Whiff.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/whiff. Accessed 22 Apr. 2025.
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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