What does whiffer mean?
Whiffer is an uncommon English noun for someone who whiffs, especially a baseball batter who swings and misses the ball. In general use, it can characterize a person who repeatedly misses a target, fails to catch something, or botches an attempt. The word is blunt and mildly disparaging rather than formal: calling a player a “whiffer” focuses attention on a conspicuous failure to make contact. It is related to the more familiar whiff, an unsuccessful swing, strike, or attempt, and carries the same sense of something passing through the air without the intended result. Although “whiffer” adds the idea of a person to “whiff,” it is not a formal term in baseball writing; it is chiefly informal sports vocabulary, with usage most familiar in commentary and team conversation. Because the word has only a narrow range of meanings and appears far less often than whiff, it tends to sound characteristically dismissive or teasing. It can also be used beyond sport to describe someone whose attempts routinely fail to connect.
nounOne who whiffs, especially a baseball batter who swings and misses the ball. More broadly, it can mean a person who repeatedly misses a target or fails to succeed at an attempt.
- A baseball batter who swings and misses the ball, especially one who does so repeatedly.
- More broadly, a person who misses a target or repeatedly fails to succeed at an attempt.
"After two swings and misses, the rookie had already earned the unkind label of the club's most regular whiffer."
"The opposing pitcher watched the struggling hitter become the team's most frequent whiffer."
"She was no great backup player, frequently the first whiffer to misjudge a fly ball."
The regular plural is used for multiple unsuccessful players or people.
"The coaches were compiling a list of the season's worst whiffers."
In baseball talk, a whiffer is a batter whose swing meets only air.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of whiffer
Whiffer was formed in English by adding the agent-forming suffix -er to whiff, the established word for an unsuccessful swing or miss. The compound therefore originally expressed the idea of a person who whiffs. Its familiar modern application is in baseball, where a missed swing is commonly called a whiff and the unsuccessful batter may be called a whiffer.
How whiffer is actually used
Informal and mildly disparaging rather than formal. It is most familiar in baseball-related speech and can sound teasing or dismissive when applied to a player.