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scoff at

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scoff

1  [skawf, skof]
Use scoff at in a Sentence
–verb (used without object)
1. to speak derisively; mock; jeer (often fol. by at): If you can't do any better, don't scoff. Their efforts toward a peaceful settlement are not to be scoffed at.
–verb (used with object)
2. to mock at; deride.
–noun
3. an expression of mockery, derision, doubt, or derisive scorn; jeer.
4. an object of mockery or derision.
Origin:
1300–50; ME scof; orig. uncert., but cf. ON skopa to scorn

Related forms:
scoffer, noun
scoff⋅ing⋅ly, adverb

Synonyms:
1. gibe. Scoff, jeer, sneer imply behaving with scornful disapproval toward someone or about something. To scoff is to express insolent doubt or derision, openly and emphatically: to scoff at a new invention. To jeer suggests expressing disapproval and scorn more loudly, coarsely, and unintelligently than in scoffing: The crowd jeered when the batter struck out. To sneer is to show by facial expression or tone of voice ill-natured contempt or disparagement: He sneered unpleasantly in referring to his opponent's misfortunes.

Antonyms:
3. praise.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Slang Dictionary
scoff [skɔf]

  1. tv. & in.
    to eat (something). (See also scarf.) : She scoffed three hamburgers and a large order of fries.
  2. n.
    food. : This scoff is gross!
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition.
Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
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Word Origin & History

scoff  (v.)
c.1380, earlier as a noun, "contemptuous ridicule" (c.1300), from a Scand. source, cf. O.N. skaup, skop "mockery," M.Dan. skof "jest, mockery;" perhaps from P.Gmc. *skub-, *skuf- (cf. O.E. scop "poet," O.H.G. scoph "fiction, sport, jest, derision;" see scold), from PIE *skeub- "to shove."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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