Dictionary

quiff en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• [kʰw̥ɪf] (UK, US)
• /kwɪf/ (UK, US)

Etymology

Variant form of whiff.

Meanings

1. (British, dialectal) A puff or whiff, especially of tobacco smoke.

Forms

quiff en · NOUN · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• [kʰw̥ɪf] (UK, US)
• /kwɪf/ (UK, US)

Etymology

Unknown.

Meanings

1. (regional, slang) A trick or ploy; a stratagem.
   • It was young Mr. Abbott worked that quiff on you, sir. 1933, John Masefield, The Bird of Dawning:

Forms

quiff en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• [kʰw̥ɪf] (UK, US)
• /kwɪf/ (UK, US)

Etymology

Uncertain; perhaps a variant of coif.

Meanings

1. (UK) A hairstyle whereby the forelock is brushed and/or gelled upward, often associated with the styles of the 1950s.
   • His woolly brown hair shaped into a drooping quiff, he's been sitting poolside all morning, snatching sucks on cigarettes before the waiters can tell him no, and thinking about reworking some incidental music for the band's gig tomorrow. 2012 September 2, Tom Lamont, The Observer:
   • A bottle of Rio and some chicken and chips / In my fuck-me-up pumps and my Winehouse quiff 2025, “Young”, performed by Little Simz:

Forms

Translations (13)

de Tolle (hairstyle) · id jambul (hairstyle) · nl kuif (hairstyle) · ca tupè (hairstyle) · es copete (hairstyle) · fr houppe (hairstyle) · es tupé (hairstyle) · bg перчем (hairstyle) · pt poupa (hairstyle) · fi otsatöyhtö (hairstyle) · pt topete (hairstyle) · gl topete (hairstyle) · he בְּלוֹרִית (hairstyle)

quiff en · VERB · etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• [kʰw̥ɪf] (UK, US)
• /kwɪf/ (UK, US)

Etymology

Uncertain; perhaps a variant of coif.

Meanings

1. (UK) To arrange (the hair) in such a manner.

Forms

Deriveds

quiffed

quiff en · NOUN · etymology 4

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio
• [kʰw̥ɪf] (UK, US)
• /kwɪf/ (UK, US)

Etymology

Probably variant of coif (“vulva”).

Meanings

1. (slang) A young girl, especially as promiscuous; a prostitute.
   • How would I get an African toothache when the closest I been to a quiff in over a month is sitting next to one? 1949, John O'Hara, A Rage to Live, New York: Grosset & Dunlap, page 193:
2. (slang) The vulva or vagina.
   • Jane was drying herself in the bedroom, holding the bath towel behind her shoulders, her small breasts and childlike nipples flushed from the power jet, her quiff a barely visible thread. 2000, J. G. Ballard, Super-Cannes, Fourth Estate, published 2011, page 120:
   • As for whores—they are sometimes daughters of fine homes peddling their quim and quiff for a thumbnail of cocaine or a tot of rot-gut whiskey. 1970, Stephen Longstreet, Nell Kimball: Her Life as an American Madam, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 145:

Forms