New York Times
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Oaf Has a Fanciful History
In long-ago England, it was believed that elves sometimes secretly exchanged their babies for human babies—a belief that served as an explanation when parents found themselves with a baby that failed to meet expectations or desires: these parents believed that their real baby had been stolen by elves and that a changeling had been left in its place. The label for such a child was auf, or alfe, (meaning “an elf’s or a goblin’s child”), which was later altered to form our present-day oaf. Auf is likely from the Middle English alven or elven, meaning “elf” or “fairy.” Today, the word oaf is no longer associated with babies and is instead applied to anyone who appears especially unintelligent or graceless.
Examples of oaf in a Sentence
Charlotte Reck, CNN Money, 26 Mar. 2026
And in the 1939 film, the Wizard is a kind of bumbling oaf who has stumbled onto the levers of power (almost literally).
—Bill Goodykoontz, AZCentral.com, 21 Nov. 2025
The Irish independence-supporting Fenians, represented primarily by hotheaded oaf Paddy (Seamus O’Hara) and his more strategically minded sister Ellen (Niamh McCormack), loathe the family’s conservative unionist policies.
—Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 25 Sep. 2025
The pope, played by Samora la Perdida, is a mincing oaf who bickers with Galas about the value of translating Wagner.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 19 Sep. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Oaf.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/oaf. Accessed 28 Mar. 2026.
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