Guffaw

//ɡəˈfɔː// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A boisterous laugh.

    "On opening the little door, two hairy monsters flew at my throat, bearing me down, and extinguishing the light; while a mingled guffaw from Heathcliff and Hareton put the copestone on my rage and humiliation."

  2. 2
    a burst of deep loud hearty laughter wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To laugh boisterously. intransitive

    "He guffawed at his adversaries."

  2. 2
    laugh boisterously wordnet

Example

More examples

"I guffaw until I can laugh no more!"

Etymology

Early 18th century, originally Scots, probably onomatopoeic.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.