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snoof en · VERB · etymology 1

Etymology

Perhaps an alteration of sniff or snuff; or perhaps a blend of snort + sniff.

Meanings

1. To sniff around, usually in the search for food.

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
snoofs	Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres		lexicographic
snoofing	Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
snoofed	Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part		lexicographic
snoofed	Tense=Past		lexicographic

snoof en · ADJ · etymology 2

Etymology

Probably coined by Galsworthy (see quotations).

Meanings

1. (humorous, nonstandard) Having lost the sense of smell.
   • And the word "snoof" has been brought forth (by an analogy with "deaf") to describe someone who is devoid of, or deficient in, the sense of smell. 1966, Monroe C. Beardsley, Thinking Straight; Principles of Reasoning for Readers and Writers, Prentice-Hall, page 292:
   • […] it means when a person lacks his sense of smell. I'm glad I'm not snoof. 1946, Una Jeffers to Dorothy Brett, The Collected Letters Of Robinson Jeffers. With Selected Letters Of Una Jeffers, volume 3, Stanford, p. 410
   • My mother-in-law, Louise Field Cooper, used the word snoof to convey some of this meaning, as in “he has such a bad cold he's gone totally snoof. 1994, Diana Starr Cooper, Night After Night, Island Press, page 127:
   • Luckily, they're all ‘snoof’." "What?" said Michael […]. "It's a portmanteau syllable for 'Got no sense of smell to speak of.' And wanted, too. One says 'deaf,' 'blind,' 'dumb'—why not ‘snoof’?" 1928, John Galsworthy, Swan Song (A Modern Comedy part 3):

Forms

Spelling	Features	Labels	Source
more snoof	Degree=Cmp		lexicographic
most snoof	Degree=Sup		lexicographic