spoof

1 of 2

verb

ˈspüf How to pronounce spoof (audio)
spoofed; spoofing; spoofs
Synonyms of spoofnext

transitive verb

1
: deceive, hoax
2
: to make good-natured fun of

spoof

2 of 2

noun

1
: hoax, deception
2
: a light humorous parody
spoofery
ˈspü-f(ə-)rē How to pronounce spoof (audio)
noun
spoofy
ˈspü-fē How to pronounce spoof (audio)
adjective

Synonyms

Verb

Noun

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of spoof in a Sentence

Verb spoofed overly competitive parents in a mockumentary about tryouts for a national T-ball team the newspaper was spoofed by a supposedly plausible claim of a UFO encounter Noun many viewers thought that the spoof of a television newscast was the real thing
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Verb
The threats include foreign governments and hackers jamming GPS signals or even spoofing them, which can produce a false location and send cars, ships, and planes to the wrong location. — Michael Kan, PCMAG, 6 Mar. 2025 This authentication ensures the caller ID that consumers see is not illegally spoofed. — Peter Ford, Forbes, 4 Mar. 2025
Noun
The actor, who originally starred on SNL from 1989 to 1995, appeared as the tech billionaire — and head of Trump's Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) — in a spoof of Trump’s heated Feb. 28 White House exchange with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. — Bailey Richards, People.com, 2 Mar. 2025 Olive Sturgess, who appeared on about two dozen TV Westerns and got to act alongside Vincent Price, Boris Karloff, Peter Lorre and Jack Nicholson in the Roger Corman 1963 cult horror spoof The Raven, died Feb. 19, her family announced. — Mike Barnes, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2025 See All Example Sentences for spoof

Word History

Etymology

Verb

Spoof, a hoaxing game invented by Arthur Roberts †1933 English comedian

First Known Use

Verb

1889, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Noun

1889, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of spoof was in 1889

Rhymes for spoof

See All Rhymes for spoof

Browse Nearby Words

spoof
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Spoof.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/spoof. Accessed 23 Mar. 2025.

Copy Citation

Share

Kids Definition

spoof

verb
ˈspüf
: to make good-natured fun of
spoof noun

More from Merriam-Webster on spoof

Nglish: Translation of spoof for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

How to Use Em Dashes (—), En Dashes (–) , and Hyphens (-)

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden

More Words with Remarkable Origins

Terroir, Oenophile, & Magnum: Ten Words About Wine

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments
See More

Popular Features

See More

The Difference Between 'i.e.' and 'e.g.'

What do SCOTUS, POTUS, and FLOTUS mean?

Flower Etymologies For Your Spring Garden
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
dog-in-disguise
Rhyme Disguise Quiz Pair up words that look different but sound alike.
See All