Onomatopoeia indicating a small explosion with a cloud of smoke; as caused by a deflating object, or a magical disappearance.
Poof, he was gone.
Even now, in the spring, the river softly cries, 'Menthol, Menthol, you are one wazoo. One day I'm the elf next door and the poof I'm a river.'1969, Beard & Kennedy, Bored of the Rings, page 87:
2 more examples
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn't exist. And like that, poof. He's gone.1995, Christopher McQuarrie, The Usual Suspects (motion picture), spoken by Verbal (Kevin Spacey):
What makes Atlantis so interesting is that its people built a utopian society and then mysteriously disappeared. One day it was there, then poof! Gone without a trace.2005, Annabelle du Fouet, “The murky world from whence it all came” (chapter 2), in Weather Balloons Make Rotten Sex Toys, Ellora's Cave, →ISBN, page 36:
He's a figment of your subconscious Eric, not mine, so I tapped into Ultimate Reality and poofed him out.2019, Justin Blackburn, The Bisexual Christian Suburban Failure Enlightening Bipolar Blues, page 22:
He recalls how everybody got called a ‘poof’ at Forrester High School in the seventies. Back then, only ‘wanker’ possibly rivalled it as the most common term of abuse. But The Poof was the Poof.2015, Irvine Welsh, A Decent Ride, Random House, →ISBN, page 21: