Skip to the word

Added 9 October 2026

scuff

/skʌf/ noun

noun Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about scuff at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

A slipper that has no fitting around the heel.
The act of scuffing (scraping or dragging the feet).

verb

Walk without lifting the feet.
Get or become scuffed.
These patent leather shoes scuffed
Mar by scuffing.
scuffed shoes

Origin

From Scots scuff (“to touch lightly, graze, hit”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old Norse skúfa (“to shove, push aside”), from Proto-Germanic *skeubaną (“to shove”). Or, perhaps imitative. More at shove.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)

Back to today's word