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Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1976 (SND Vol. X). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

WAFF, adj., n.², v.² Also wa(a)f, wauf(f), wawf-; and altered form (after pa.p.) waft ; irreg. waffer. See also Waith, n.¹, adj. Compar. waufer (Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 347), superl. waffest, wauffest (Slk. 1820 Hogg Winter Ev. Tales I. 282). Sc. forms and usages of Eng. waif. See P.L.D. §§ 27.1, 76.1. [wɑf, wǫf]

I. adj. 1. (1) Of animals: strayed, wandering, out of bounds, ownerless (Mry. 1925, waft).Arg. 1711 Arg. Justiciary Rec. (Stair Soc.) II. 273:
There was a waft cow pasturing on their grass.Sc. 1720 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 146:
She then bade me hound my Dog To weer up three waff Ews were on the Bog.Rnf. 1724 Session Papers, Petition R. Orr (11 July 1759) 10:
He hath helped the Officer of Glen to gather the waff Sheep upon the said Ground.Ayr. 1789 Ballantine & Thom Poems 81:
Like a waffer sheep I wander.Ayr. 1824 A. Crawford Tales Grandmother 7:
Putting puir Geordie Gibson out o' existence … an' for twa or three waff wethers.Per. 1857 J. Stewart Sketches 75:
Doubtless he was the waffest wether That ever ran thereout on heather.

(2) of persons: vagrant, wandering, homeless, footloose.ne.Sc. 1746 Origins of '45 (S.H.S.) 129:
The waifest kind of people had mostly gone off in the first Levys.Sc. 1757 Smollett Reprisal ii. iii.:
Now we man tak care of the poor waff lassie.Sc. 1806 R. Jamieson Pop. Ballads II. 203:
And wull and waif for eight lang years They sail'd upon the sea.Sc. 1825 Fair Annie in Child Ballads (1886) II. 72:
I took you as a waaf woman, I leave you as the same.Ayr. 1833 Galt Poems 54:
Oh, is he waff in some far land?

(3) hence of persons and places, etc.: solitary, lonely, forlorn, melancholy (Sc. 1808 Jam.; Ags. 1926).Sc. 1724 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 81:
Milane I wandert waif and wae.Edb. 1814 E. P. Nelson Poet. Wks. 67:
Meditatin' — waff an' eerie.Arg. 1897 N. Munro J. Splendid xxv.:
This wauf and empty foreign domicile that is a melancholy in itself.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 55:
Fitsore, weary and wauf.Sc. 1935 W. Soutar Poems in Sc. 26:
The heichest stern, like to a gleed Blawn up, hings waukrifelie and waif.

(4) fig., of a story, report, rumour: floating, general, of unspecified origin. Stevenson's usage is derived from the 1753 source.Sc. 1753 Trial J. Stewart Append. 102:
He heard a waif report in the country, that Ardshiel had sent home a message.Sc. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xvii.:
I have heard a waif word in the country … that you were a hard man to drive.

(5) nonce usages: stray, occasional, irregular; out-of-the-way, carelessly inaccessible.Dmf. 1874 R. Reid Moorland Rhymes 2:
Wauf glisks o' the muirlan' and mountain, Odd blinks o' the corrie and glen.Sh. 1914 Angus Gl.:
Du's laid it some waf wy or dan du'd no lost it.

2. Of persons: vagabond-like, disreputable, worthless in character, good-for-nothing (Rnf. 1788 E. Picken Poems Gl.; Sc. 1808 Jam.; Gall. 1824 MacTaggart Gallov. Encycl. 347; Ork., Cai. 1905 E.D.D.; Cai., em.Sc. (a), Wgt. 1973); unscrupulous, untrustworthy (Peb. 1825 Jam.); mean in station, low-born; freq. of appearance: suspicious-looking, hangdog, scruffy.Gall. 1796 J. Lauderdale Poems 91:
As some poor waff detested scunner.Sc. 1815 Scott Guy M. xxxix.:
Ilka waf carle in the country has a son and heir and the house of Ellangowan is without male succession.Fif. 1831 Fife Herald (24 Feb.):
Concluding from his wauf appearance that he was not there on legitimate traffic.Rxb. 1847 H. S. Riddell Poems 329:
They'll plant the waff aboon the wise, The false o' heart aboon the true.e.Lth. 1879 W. Chisholm Poems 88:
Till quaflin', some wauf ane, Fa's in their cursed snares.Ayr. 1887 J. Service Dr Duguid 121:
A great number of wauf customers no doot cam roon' me, but with no intention in the worl' of ever paying me a fraction.w.Lth. 1892 R. Steuart Legends 207:
I daurna' tak' it wi' me, an' sae mony waff pit folk gaun aboot.Kcb. 1901 R. Trotter Gall. Gossip 352:
The minister turn't a teetotaller, an gaed aboot amang a' the waff characters he ken't o', tryin tae convert them.Lnk. 1922 T. S. Cairncross Scot at Hame 30:
No' that we're happier. I was better aff In the auld tenement where folk were waff.

Hence waffie, wauffie (Per. 1915 Wilson L. Strathearn 274; Cai., Per., Fif. 1973), waffish (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 205; Ags. 1926), waff-like (Sc. 1808 Jam.), -looking, waft-, id., waffness, a shabby appearance (Sc. 1825 Jam.).Sc. 1814 C. I. Johnstone Saxon and Gael III. vii.:
Put on your braws, and let nae Miss Scott be wiping my chafts wi' your waffness.Edb. 1828 D. M. Moir Mansie Wauch xx.:
Two wauf-looking fellows that we had got smoking in a corner.Abd. 1851 Banffshire Jnl. (2 Dec.):
I gae the waufie interloper a wauk'ning fright.Fif. 1869 D. Fleming Clashin' Wives 2:
Forbye hoo mony hissies bold A wauf-like character ha'e earn'd.Sc. 1893 Stevenson Catriona xxiii.:
The doors and windows thronged with wauf-like painted women.Lnk. 1895 W. C. Fraser Whaups i.:
Ye'll see some geyan waff-lookin' creatur's yonder.Lth. 1905 J. Lumsden Croonings 18:
A caird who lo'ed his drams owre well And was considered waufish.Mry. 1908 J. Mackinnon Braefoot Sk. 10:
Fatna waft-lookin' character's that?Fif. 1915 Rymour Club Misc. II. 156:
A band of waffie tinkers.

3. (1) Of persons: feeble in body or mind, weak, exhausted, spiritless, stupid, ineffective (Peb., Dmf. 1825 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Dmf. 1925 Trans. Dmf. and Gall. Antiq. Soc. 42; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Rxb. 1942 Zai; em.Sc., Arg., Lnk., s.Sc. 1973). Also waffy, waff-like, id., waff-looking, feeble or sickly in appearance (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Bwk., Lnk., s.Sc. 1973), wauffness, weakness.Ayr. 1822 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 202:
A bit waff winlestrae thing o' a gauger.Ayr. 1823 Galt R. Gilhaize III. xix.:
Though the folk afore the house are but a wee waff-like, ye ken it is written in the Book, that the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong.Lnk. 1864 J. Greenshields Annals Lesmahagow App. 52:
And lest wauf bodies lie aback, The next one gives “A straught clean rack”.Slk. 1894 J. Russell Reminisc. Yarrow 7:
When a popular preacher mounted the rostrum, the people all flocked to the tent; when a wauf hand turned up, the tide was all the other way.Sc. 1913 H. P. Cameron Imit. Christ i. iv.:
They ken man's wauffness that it swees tae the ill.Rxb. 1925 E. C. Smith Mang Howes 19:
The heat turns leify folk dawallt an waaf.Edb. 1956:
I was gey wauf efter comin up the stair.m.Sc. 1994 J. E. MacInnes in James Robertson A Tongue in Yer Heid 15:
I'd never noticed nails oan a man afore either, but ma hale life wis jist this wan airm, wi the hairs, an his pincil wi his deft strokes where mine were aw watery an waffy like ma legs at his nearness, an ma feet wi these corns jist gowpin ablow the desk, an the belt buckle slicin intae ma spare tyre an the sunlight splinterin aff his lashes while the een oan him smiled at me. em.Sc. 1999 James Robertson The Day O Judgement 27:
" ... Yer awfu rage is ill tae waste
On sic as me, sae waff an bruckle. ... "

(2) Of things, qualities, etc.: weak, lacking strength or substance, flimsy, shoddy, paltry, of little account (Lth. 1825 Jam.; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Sh. 1973); feeble, insipid; of words: cheap, vulgar. Also adv., in a scurvy manner, superl. waffest. Derivs. waffie, waff-like, id., waffish, worthless (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 205).Sc. 1810 in Lockhart Scott xx.:
I dinna think there's a waufer thing in the world than to be a lassie, to sit boring at a clout.Ags. 1820 Montrose Review (2 June) 175:
My habit is sae waff an' slim.Sc. 1824 S. Ferrier Inheritance III. xviii.:
It will be but a waiff kind of happiness.Ayr. 1826 Galt Last of Lairds xxix.:
This is no wax at a', but fiddler's rosett, wi' gold foilzie in't, and oh it is waff paper.s.Sc. 1847 H. S. Riddell Poems 4:
Our wa's atweel are waff enough.Sc. 1884 Stevenson Letters to Baxter (1956) 143:
The judges themsel, fair horrifyin' me wi' their low, wauf expressions: “essentially fraudulent,” “ashamed of himsel,” “disgraceful exhibeetion.”Ayr. 1892 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 214:
Some waff desire, Wi' nought o' reason in't.Bwk. 1897 R. M. Calder Poems 232:
True frien' ships in this warl' … The best o' them are unco wauf.Kcb. a.1902 Gallovidian (1913) 109:
Like botch't job waffest dune Wi' wull deprave't.m.Sc. 1917 J. Buchan Poems 42:
Thae muirland floo'ers are wauf.Abd. 1921:
Dinna ring sair, the tow's unca waffie.Sc. 1929 Scots Mag. (March) 454:
A gey waff lot his books are onygate.

(3) Troublesome, unchancy, tricky.Mry. 1865 W. Tester Poems 116:
Ye'll find it some gey waff to spell.

II. n. A person of worthless character (Bnff. 1925; Cai. 1973). Derivs. wafer, a wastrel, a good-for-nothing (Abd. 1929 Abd. Press and Jnl. (20 Dec.); Fif., Ayr., Wgt., Rxb. 1973); waffie, wawfie, waffey, id., a vagabond (Ags. 1808, Fif. 1825 Jam.; Kcb. 1900; ‡Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.; Bwk. 1942 Wettstein; Fif. 1973).Edb. 1813 “Edinias” Ramble to Roslin 30:
This gentleman surely, tho' something aglee, Maun some guid respectable gentleman be … Gin he war a waffie, they'd e'en let him tak it.Fif. 1818 Blackwood's Mag. (Feb.) 524:
The gypsies have actually among themselves outcasts and vagabonds, as are in all other societies of mankind. The outcasts and vagabonds are by them termed “waffies”.Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 232:
The new ferrier's naething bit a perfit waff.Per. 1894 I. Maclaren Brier Bush 190:
If I had my wull wi thae wawfies, I wud ship them aff tae a desert island.Gall. 1899 Crockett Anna Mark xxvi.:
Siclike waffs and runagates as Philip Stansfield that slaughtered the daddy o' him.Sc. 1930 Scots Mag. (Feb.) 354:
Having dealt a “waffey of a post-boy a wee crack on the lug wiss his crook.”Ayr. 1952 J. Veitch G. D. Brown 95:
You, you waff, I could kill ye wi' the yae glower.

III. v. To wander about in an idle manner (Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 205). Ppl.adj. waffin aboot, vagrant, disreputable (Ib.).