Onomatopoeia indicating a small explosion with a cloud of smoke; as caused by a deflating object, or a magical disappearance.
Poof, he was gone.
What makes Atlantis so interesting is that its people built a utopian society and then mysteriously disappeared. One day it was there, then poof! Gone without a trace. 2005, Annabelle du Fouet, “The murky world from whence it all came” (chapter 2), in Weather Balloons Make Rotten Sex Toys, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, page 36:
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone. 1995, Christopher McQuarrie, The Usual Suspects (motion picture), spoken by Verbal (Kevin Spacey):
Even now, in the spring, the river softly cries, 'Menthol, Menthol, you are one wazoo. One day I'm the elf next door and the poof I'm a river.' 1969, Beard & Kennedy, Bored of the Rings, page 87:
nb poff (deflating object or a magical disappearance) · pt puf (deflating object or a magical disappearance) · pl puf (deflating object or a magical disappearance) · sv pysa (deflation) (deflating object or a magical disappearance) · sv poff (deflating object or a magical disappearance) · es puf (deflating object or a magical disappearance) · de puff (deflating object or a magical disappearance) · fr pouf (deflating object or a magical disappearance) · fi puff (deflating object or a magical disappearance)
The product of flatulence, or the sound of breaking wind.
Forms
Spelling
Features
Labels
Source
pouf
alternative
lexicographic
poofs
Number=Plur
lexicographic
Translations (7)
fi pieru (The product of flatulence) · sv fis (The product of flatulence) · sv prutt (The product of flatulence) · sv fjärt (The product of flatulence) · da prut (The product of flatulence) · fr pet (The product of flatulence) · fr prout (The product of flatulence)
He's a figment of your subconscious Eric, not mine, so I tapped into Ultimate Reality and poofed him out. 2019, Justin Blackburn, The Bisexual Christian Suburban Failure Enlightening Bipolar Blues, page 22:
(Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, colloquial, derogatory) A gay man; especially one who is irritating or contemptible.
He recalls how everybody got called a ‘poof’ at Forrester High School in the seventies. Back then, only ‘wanker’ possibly rivalled it as the most common term of abuse. But The Poof was the Poof. 2015, Irvine Welsh, A Decent Ride, Random House, →ISBN, page 21:
it checca (A male homosexual) · fi hintti (A male homosexual) · pt maricas (A male homosexual) · ca maricó (A male homosexual) · hu buzi (A male homosexual) · pl pedał (A male homosexual) · cy pwff (A male homosexual) · it finocchio (A male homosexual) · ru голубо́й (A male homosexual) · pl pedzio (A male homosexual) · pt bicha (A male homosexual) · sv fjolla (A male homosexual) · no skrulle (A male homosexual) · fr pédale (A male homosexual) · bg педераст (A male homosexual) · pt paneleiro (A male homosexual) · ca marica (A male homosexual) · fr tapette (A male homosexual) · fr tante (A male homosexual) · ca marieta (A male homosexual) · mt pufta (A male homosexual) · pt zabela (A male homosexual) · no fjolle (A male homosexual)