Whiff Means a Faint Smell and a Complete Miss
A whiff is a brief smell carried on the air. In American sport it means missing entirely.
A whiff is a brief smell carried on a puff of air, and by extension a slight trace of anything. American sport uses it for the opposite of contact: to *whiff* is to swing and miss completely, in baseball or golf, from the sound of the bat or club passing through empty air. The word describes what you hear when nothing is hit. It is imitative, from the 1500s, and *a whiff of scandal* extends the smell sense figuratively.
- A brief smell. *A whiff of smoke.*
- A slight trace. *A whiff of scandal.*
- To miss entirely. *He whiffed.*
- Whiffy — smelly. *A bit whiffy.*
- Imitative. *From the 1500s.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | whiff | A whiff. |
| Plural | whiffs | Whiffs. |
| Verb | whiff | Whiffed. |
| Adjective | whiffy | Whiffy. |
| Register | informal | Informal. |
- A whiff of coffee from the kitchen.Smell.
- There was a whiff of scandal.Figurative.
- He whiffed at the third pitch.Baseball.
Words for a small amount of smell
- Whiff — brief and carried on air
- Trace — the faintest detectable amount
- Hint — suggestive rather than definite
- Waft — a smell drifting gently
- Reek — the opposite end, strong and unpleasant
Imitative, from the 1500s, of the sound of a puff of air.
Why does whiff mean to miss in baseball?
From the sound of the bat passing through empty air. The word describes what you hear when nothing is struck.
Is whiff always about smell?
No. It also means a slight trace of anything, and in American sport a complete miss.