What does "buff" mean?
Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals.
Buff
/bʌf/ adj, name, noun, verb, slang
adj, name, noun, verb, slang ·Very common ·Middle school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals.
- Grammar: buff is listed as adj, name, noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: devotee, fan, abettor, addict.
- Useful contrasts: quick scrape, abrasive pad, amateur.
- Usage evidence: Let's play a game of blind man's buff.
How to use "buff"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "buff" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "buff" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "buff" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "buff" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "buff" is acting as adj, name, noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "devotee" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "buff", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Undyed leather from the skin of buffalo or similar animals. countable, uncountable
"[…]; but is in a ſuite of buffe […]"
- 2 A strike; a blow. obsolete
"Nathless so sore a buff to him it lent / That made him reel."
- 3 A buffalo, or the meat of a buffalo. countable, informal, uncountable
"[…] diced buff (buffalo) meat, usually heavily spiced […]"
- 4 Alternative form of buffe (“face armor”). alt-of, alternative, uncommon
"For they had helmets on their heads, fashioned like wild beast's necks, and strange beavers or buffs to the same, and wore on their helmets great high plumes of feathers, as they had been wings : […]"
- 5 Acronym of big ugly fat fellow (or fucker), US Airforce nickname for the B-52 bomber. US, abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, slang
"The B-52 Stratofortress is not called the Buff because it is painted a tan or dun-brown color."
Show 17 more definitions
- 6 A member of the Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment). UK, plural
- 7 Clipping of Buffalo nickel. abbreviation, alt-of, clipping
- 8 A member of the Royal Antediluvian Order of Buffaloes. UK, slang
- 9 an implement consisting of soft material mounted on a block; used for polishing (as in manicuring) wordnet
- 10 A tool, often one covered with buff leather, used for polishing. countable, uncountable
- 11 a medium to dark tan color wordnet
- 12 A brownish yellow colour. countable, uncountable
"1693, John Dryden (translator), The Satires of Decimus Junius Juvenalis Translated into English Verse, London: Jacob Tonson, Satire 10, lines 307-308, p. 203, […] a Visage rough, Deform’d, Unfeatur’d, and a Skin of Buff."
- 13 bare skin wordnet
- 14 A military coat made of buff leather. countable, uncountable
"A diuell in an euerlaſting garment hath him ; / On whoſe hard heart is button’d vp with ſteele : / A Feind, a Fairie, pittileſſe and ruffe : / A Wolfe, nay worſe, a fellow all in buffe […]"
- 15 an ardent follower and admirer wordnet
- 16 A person who is very interested in a particular subject. countable, informal, uncountable
"He’s a real history buff. He knows everything there is to know about the civil war."
- 17 a soft thick undyed leather from the skins of e.g. buffalo or oxen wordnet
- 18 An effect that makes a character or item stronger. countable, uncountable
"I just picked up an epic damage buff! Let's go gank the other team!"
- 19 Compressive coupler force that occurs during a slack bunched condition. countable, uncountable
- 20 The bare skin. colloquial, countable, uncountable
"to strip to the buff"
- 21 The greyish viscid substance constituting the buffy coat. countable, uncountable
- 22 Any substance used to dilute (street) drugs in order to increase profits. countable, uncountable
"2014, “Aldergrove’s 856 gang busted, $400,000 in drugs seized,” CBC News, 30 July, 2014, Police say this 20 ton hydraulic jack was used to press mixtures of cocaine and “buff” into brick."
Verb
- 1 To polish and make shiny by rubbing.
"He was already buffing the car's hubs."
- 2 To strike.
"Bravely run Red-hood, / There was a shock, / To have buff’d out the blood / From ought but a block."
- 3 To stammer, stutter dialectal, obsolete
- 4 polish and make shiny wordnet
- 5 To make a character or an item stronger.
"The enchanter buffed the paladin to prepare him to fight the dragon."
Show 4 more definitions
- 6 strike, beat repeatedly wordnet
- 7 To modify a medical chart, especially in a dishonest manner.
""Sure thing, I buffed her, and they turfed her to urology, but she bounced back to me!" [...] They attempted to transfer her to urology by modifying her chart (buffing it) to request urine tests, but the doctors in urology sent (bounced) her back."
- 8 To remove (graffiti), particularly when done by someone who is not a graffiti writer. slang
- 9 To strip to the bare skin. archaic, slang, transitive
Adjective
- 1 Of the color of buff leather, a brownish yellow.
- 2 Unusually muscular. colloquial
"The bouncer was a big, buff dude with tattoos, a shaved head, and a serious scowl."
- 3 Physically attractive. Multicultural-London-English, slang
"That's right: I'm taking driver's ed next semester. Hiring an interpreter for CHS and the deaf school outta my own hefty pockets. You're welcome. Oh, and I'm going to get really skinny and buff. All slim like a swimsuit model."
Adjective
- 1 of the yellowish-beige color of buff leather wordnet
Slang
- 1 To strengthen a game character, item, or tactic. slang, gaming, 2010s-2020s
"That class got a needed buff."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Example
"Let's play a game of blind man's buff."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "buff"?
Common synonyms include: devotee, fan, abettor, addict, adherent, admirer.
How do you use "buff" in a sentence?
Let's play a game of blind man's buff.
How do you pronounce "buff"?
Pronounced /bʌf/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From buffe (“leather”), from Middle French buffle (“buffalo”).
Etymology 2
From Old French bufer (“to cuff, buffet”). See buffet (“a blow”).
Etymology 3
From Middle English buffen (“to stutter, stammer”), from Old English byffan (“to mumble, mutter”), from Proto-West Germanic *bubjaną, from Proto-Indo-European *bʰeyH- (“to fear, to be afraid”). More at bive (“tremble, shake”) and bever.
Etymology 4
Clipping of buffalo.
Etymology 5
From the colour of their facings.