Etymology Possibly a deliberate mispronunciation of fluff, a back-formation from floofy, or a blend of fluff + poof (compare the etymology of floofy).
1
Humorous, Informal, Often To make something fluffy; to fluff (up).
Then she floofs out her blonde curls artlessly and opens her mouth wide, checking her teeth for spinach.2002, India Knight, Don't You Want Me?, London: Penguin Books, →ISBN:
From a dim corner, Stella [a bird] stirred: a floofing of feathers, a dry click, click of talons across the perch.2010, Susan Fletcher, “Things that Go Thump”, in Ancient, Strange, and Lovely (The Dragon Chronicles), New York, N.Y.: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, →ISBN, page 9:
2 more examples
Josette is pegging out the laundry in her garden. […] She takes a pair of trousers and floofs them so that they uncrumple. A pair of frilly knickers fly out from the leg and I laugh.2013, Claire King, chapter 19, in The Night Rainbow, London: Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 217:
She'd floofed her hair back up with military-grade hairspray, and then was painting over her nail art with sparkly silver when Annie found her and dragged her back to the dance floor […]2015, Lindsey J. Palmer, chapter 9, in If We Lived Here, New York, N.Y.: Kensington Books, →ISBN, page 75:
She floofed down between Max and me on the Chickly Shabby sofa.2012, Brian D'Amato, The Sacrifice Game (The Sacrifice Game Trilogy; 2), New York, N.Y.: Dutton, →ISBN:
Holly flung herself on an upholstered sofa, her cute retro dress floofing around her.2014, Amylynn Bright, chapter 12, in Finish what We Started, Don Mills, Ont.: Carina Press, →ISBN:
1 more example
I peeked over my makeup mirror to watch Stefano clamp a pasta bowl between two fingers and pet it with the yellow sponge. Suds floofed onto the counter and his shirt, the wall and the floor.2015, Kathleen Cremonesi, “Pressure”, in Love in the Elephant Tent: How Running Away with the Circus Brought Me Home, Toronto, Ont.: ECW Press, →ISBN:
Etymology Possibly a deliberate mispronunciation of fluff, a back-formation from floofy, or a blend of fluff + poof (compare the etymology of floofy).
1
Used to indicate the (supposed) sound of moving air, as in an explosion, a puff of smoke, etc.
As I [the universe] was saying, I had no idea what to expect before the beginning, so to speak. Perhaps it really went floof, woosh, bang. Or bang, woosh, floof. Or even woosh, floof, bang. You know how permutations go.1975, Paul West, “The Universe, and other Fictions”, in J[ames] Laughlin, Peter Glassgold, Frederick R. Martin, editors, New Directions in Prose and Poetry 31, New York, N.Y.: New Directions Publishing, →ISBN, →OCLC, page 107:
floof [MAD #181, March 1976] A word indicating a puff of smoke has appeared, as in a smoke signal: also FLOOF [MAD #181, March 1976] The imaginary sound of a single puff of smoke created with a blanket[2006, Kevin J. Taylor, editor, KA-BOOM!: A Dictionary of Comic Book Words, Symbols & Onomatopoeia: Comprising Many Hundreds of New Words which Modern Literature, Science & Philosophy have Neglected to Acknowledge as True, Proper & Useful Terms & which have Never before been Published in any Lexicon, Surrey, B.C.: Mora Publications, →ISBN, page 29:
floof
noun
Etymology Possibly a deliberate mispronunciation of fluff, a back-formation from floofy, or a blend of fluff + poof (compare the etymology of floofy).
1
Internet, Endearing A long-haired dog, cat, or similar furry pet animal.