What does guffawed mean?
Guffawed is the past tense of guffaw and means to laugh loudly and heartily. The word is especially suited to describing reactions that are openly amused, surprised, or entertained, as when an audience bursts into laughter at a joke or mishap. Although grammatically standard, it has an expressive, informal-to-literary quality and conveys more force than simply saying that someone laughed. Guffawed can suggest a full-bodied or boisterous reaction, while still often carrying a humorous or affectionate tone. It is used in everyday conversation, storytelling, and prose, but it is less appropriate for describing a quiet, restrained, or merely polite laugh. The form is most natural in narrative contexts, particularly when reporting what a person or group did after hearing or seeing something amusing. Its unusual sound and vivid meaning make it especially memorable in descriptive writing.
verbGuffawed is the past-tense form of guffaw, meaning to laugh loudly and heartily, often with surprise or amusement.
- Laughed loudly and heartily, especially in response to something amusing or surprising.
"The children guffawed when the puppet's final trick went spectacularly wrong."
"The audience guffawed when the speaker accidentally quoted his own cliché."
"At the punchline, several colleagues guffawed with delight."
Guffaw may lack a certain pedigree, but it has made itself heard unmistakably for centuries.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does guffawed come from?
The verb guffaw was recorded in English by the late 16th century, and guffawed is its regular past-tense form. The precise origin of guffaw is uncertain, so it cannot be confidently traced to a particular language, root, or established cognate.
Related word forms
How guffawed is actually used
Informal to literary and often humorous. It describes a conspicuously loud or hearty laugh rather than ordinary quiet amusement.
Easily confused with guffawed
Guffaw is the base verb and can also be a noun, while guffawed is specifically the past-tense form of the verb.