Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)
Hide Quotations Hide Etymology
About this entry:
First published 1971 (SND Vol. VIII). Includes material from the 2005 supplement.
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.
Quotation dates: 1865, 1995
[0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,0,1]
SOWF, n., adj. Also souff, sowff and deriv. souffle. [sʌuf]
I. n. 1. A fool, a simpleton, a stupid, silly person (Kcd. 1825 Jam., souff(le); Bnff. 1866 Gregor D. Bnff. 176; Abd. 1929).Mry. 1865 W. Tester Poems 160:
Though I, puir sowf, sud hang condemn't.Abd. 1995 Flora Garry Collected Poems 43:
Wifies in safties, snibbin back-doors,
Hard him an mummelt: 'Peer sowff!'
2. A lazy, idle, drunken fellow (Kcd. 1825 Jam., souff(le)).
II. adj. Feeble-minded, simple (Abd. 1933). Comb. sowf-heid, a fool (Abd. 1969).
[Imit. Cf. Sumph.]You may wish to vary the format shown below depending on the citation style used.
"Sowf n., adj.". Dictionary of the Scots Language. 2004. Scottish Language Dictionaries Ltd. Accessed 5 Dec 2025 <http://www.dsl.ac.uk/entry/snd/sowf>
