pouf

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   a low, firm, cushioned seat without a back or arms, also used as a footstool

   She pulled the pouf closer to the sofa and rested her feet on it.

2. 2
   noun

   a high, padded, or rolled arrangement of hair, especially an elaborate eighteenth-century headdress

   The portrait shows her hair arranged in a towering powdered pouf.

3. 3
   intj

   an exclamation imitating a sudden puff or disappearance, or accompanying a dismissive gesture

   Pouf! He waved away their gloomy prediction as nonsense.

Borrowed from French pouf or pouff, an imitative word suggesting a puff, soft impact, or sudden disappearance. The image of something puffed out produced the senses for a padded seat, gathered fabric, and a raised hairstyle; the exclamation preserves the sound-symbolic use.

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