Duffer
adj, name, noun, slang ·Common ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 An incompetent, indolent, or clumsy person. informal
"Besides, I was anxious to take the wheel, the man in pink pyjamas showing himself a hopeless duffer at the business."
- 2 an incompetent or clumsy person wordnet
- 3 A player having little skill, especially a golfer who duffs.
- 4 A pedlar or hawker, especially one selling cheap or substandard goods. archaic
"Among them are several distinct and peculiar street-characters, such as the pack-men, who carry their cotton or linen goods in packs on their backs, and are all itinerants. Then there are duffers, who vend pretended smuggled goods, handkerchiefs, silks, tobacco or cigars; also, the sellers of sham sovereigns and sham gold rings for wagers."
- 5 Cheap or substandard goods sold by a duffer. archaic
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 Anything substandard, such as a counterfeit or a defective instance. archaic
- 7 A cow that does not produce milk or produces substantially less than her peers do. dated
"We have some good cows in this State, but, unfortunately, we have too many duffer cows that are not only being fed and milked at a loss but are eating up a portion of the profit of the good cow which is being milked alongside them."
- 8 A cattle thief or thief of other livestock; one who alters the brands of cattle. Australia, dated
"Judy was an associate (‘stud’) of a Whitefella cattle duffer named Brigalow Bill (aka WJJ Ward)."
- 9 A racing pigeon that does not perform well.
- 10 Any of various nymphalid butterflies of the genus Discophora.
- 1 comparative form of duff: more duff comparative, form-of
- 1 A surname.
Example
More examples"Being at the concert hall full of young kids made an old duffer like me feel out of tune."
Etymology
Cognate with duff, which see (origin is uncertain).
More for "duffer"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.