What's the difference between waft and whiff?

Waft


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To give notice to by waving something; to wave the hand to; to beckon.
  • (v. t.) To cause to move or go in a wavy manner, or by the impulse of waves, as of water or air; to bear along on a buoyant medium; as, a balloon was wafted over the channel.
  • (v. t.) To cause to float; to keep from sinking; to buoy.
  • (v. i.) To be moved, or to pass, on a buoyant medium; to float.
  • (n.) A wave or current of wind.
  • (n.) A signal made by waving something, as a flag, in the air.
  • (n.) An unpleasant flavor.
  • (n.) A knot, or stop, in the middle of a flag.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) Shorten presented to the world as a wafting, benign cloud.
  • (2) Great for families, but not those families offended by whiffs of a special herb wafting across the lawn.
  • (3) I savour the smell of the food stalls as I ride down Whitecross Street market at about 11am, inhaling successive wafts of roasting steak, baking flatbreads, frying onions, toasting cumin seeds, sizzling bacon, curries and chillies and pickles and melting cheese.
  • (4) Fat sizzles, flour sifts, and delicious smells waft around.
  • (5) At least 900 airplane flights into and out of Bali and other regional airports were cancelled due to concerns about the ash clouds, which wafted as high as six kilometres (20,000ft) into the air.
  • (6) Oscar can just about be given the benefit of the doubt after an optimistic fall in front of Bellerín but Cesc Fàbregas deserved all the condemnation that came his way when he wafted his leg in the direction of Santi Cazorla, then plopped to the ground in the vain hope that the referee, Michael Oliver, might be conned.
  • (7) Danny Welbeck wafted his attempt over the crossbar.
  • (8) The smell of fried food wafts from the door of the Docks Cafe, which sits in the shadow of Tata Steel’s sprawling Port Talbot steelworks.
  • (9) Two of them, Shane Long and James Ward-Prowse, undid the home defence in the 83rd minute, only for Ward-Prowse to waft a shot over from 14 yards.
  • (10) Yet his scatter-gun intelligence had been obvious during a long conversation in which he had wafted through subjects as diverse as depression and discipline, addiction and hope, religion and money – and his complicated feelings towards Haye.
  • (11) Valencia snatched at his shot and wafted it over the crossbar without really looking up to weigh his options.
  • (12) 8.52pm GMT Neil Lennon lays down the law Neil Lennon (@OfficialNeil) Contrary to reports there have been no fresh bids for Gary and even if there are they will be rejected..he is NOT for sale January 31, 2013 8.48pm GMT Denials are now wafting out of Upton Park about the reported bid for Diamé.
  • (13) He tossed Shakespeare into a modern-day, thinly veiled Miami in the electrifying Romeo + Juliet and sent Nicole Kidman wafting, purring and simpering through bohemian Paris in Moulin Rouge!
  • (14) The air extraction system designed to suck out the humid breath, sweat, skin flakes, hair, dust and pollution wafting up towards the frescoes was almost 20 years old and urgently needed replacing, he said.
  • (15) And then smile calmly at her back as she switches on the kettle and enjoy the gentle sensation of a breeze wafting through your plush and generous under-arm hair.
  • (16) Within minutes, the bitter scent of tear-gas had wafted into the hospital grounds, sparking panic that the riot police were coming for them there as well.
  • (17) But Ameobi wafts a weak header into Hart's arms, a poor effort from a decent position.
  • (18) carbon dioxide emissions, it has never systematically measured its fugitive methane leaks, which waft from every stage of the gas extraction, processing, and distribution process – from the well casings and the condenser valves to the cracked pipelines under Harlem neighbourhoods.
  • (19) In Amsterdam, long famous for its coffee shops, identifiable by pictures of marijuana outside and fumes wafting through the door, international experts gathering to discuss cannabis regulation said the international conventions, once so heavily policed by the US, would now be increasingly flouted.
  • (20) They have the same faces and a lot of moleskin fur – not exactly first class, in other words, but still chic – with arrogant legs and a great waft of perfume about them.” Keun was too much for the Nazis; she fled to Ostend where she took Joseph Roth for her lover.

Whiff


Definition:

  • (n.) A sudden expulsion of air from the mouth; a quick puff or slight gust, as of air or smoke.
  • (n.) A glimpse; a hasty view.
  • (n.) The marysole, or sail fluke.
  • (v. t.) To throw out in whiffs; to consume in whiffs; to puff.
  • (v. t.) To carry or convey by a whiff, or as by a whiff; to puff or blow away.
  • (v. i.) To emit whiffs, as of smoke; to puff.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) It may have been like punk never ‘appened, but you caught a whiff of the movement’s scorched earth puritanism in the mocking disdain with which Smash Hits addressed rock-star hedonism.
  • (2) He is also characterised as "the devoted husband of a bestselling novelist with a few of her own ideas about how fiction works"; a funny sentence construction that carries a faint whiff of husband stoically bent over his books as wife keeps popping up with pesky theories about realism.
  • (3) Similar messages delivered by previous populist, independent candidates like Ralph Nader and Ross Perot didn’t catch on because there was always that whiff of ego that voters like me could smell, coupled with lack of experience in government.
  • (4) The local undertakers were pleased to discover the great Henty to be the man they had always imagined - a full-bearded giant, stern and wise, dressed like a warrior hero or - much the same thing - a Victorian gentleman with the whiff of gunpowder and the clash of sabres about him.
  • (5) The zesty, citrus whiff of oranges freshens up the January kitchen, drawing a line under heavy celebratory food, and lighting up the virtuous, but enticing path to a lighter, healthier diet.
  • (6) The presence of three of the following four criteria was necessary: 1) vaginal pH greater than 4.5; 2) clue cells on the saline wet mount; 3) thin, homogeneous-appearing discharge; or 4) positive potassium hydroxide "whiff test."
  • (7) If Gleeson could be the guest speaker, how then could it be described as a “Liberal party event?” Even if it was a party occasion, the commissioner asks: “how does that demonstrate that the speaker has an affinity with a partiality for or a persuasion or allegiance or alignment to the Liberal party or lent it support?” If the fair minded lay observer (FMLO), who in this instance is the judge of apprehended bias, had an idea of Heydon’s record on the high court they might get a whiff of partiality to a particular world view, or philosophy.
  • (8) Despite the success of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings trilogy, there was a whiff of snobbery.
  • (9) Photograph: Jon Tonks for the Guardian During the three years leading up to the final vote, the Sheringham story had often given off a questionable whiff.
  • (10) Great for families, but not those families offended by whiffs of a special herb wafting across the lawn.
  • (11) Yet that entire grand bazaar of old summer chemistry is all blended to me now and I can pick out just one: the first whiff of autumn.
  • (12) Now's as good a time as any to put out this reminder: authorities are on high alert and investigating everything that has even a whiff of suspicion.
  • (13) Paul Doyle The generally positive spirit: most referees allowed robust contact and, in turn, most players did not throw themselves to the ground at the first whiff of contact.
  • (14) It has more than a whiff of the Portsmouths about it.
  • (15) Add to that the venerated reputation of its wine, and a whiff of bourgeois privilege and conservatism, and you expect a city of well-groomed, self-satisfied people.
  • (16) You might even find people who think there is more than a whiff of sexism apparent in the building, and the critiques.
  • (17) 3.56pm: This retweet from the RMT has a Soviet whiff about it: RT @lindapalermo @LDN @rmtlondon #DearRMT I understand why you've called strike action and wish you victory in your actions.
  • (18) Male sketchwriters and assorted Westminster aficionados either affected bemused indulgence on behalf of their slighted sisters or scented the whiff of political-correctness-gone-mad.
  • (19) The venue was deserted and, more annoyingly, it was situated down a lane, affording the audience a whiff of urine prior to entering the palace of doom that I'd paid £7,500 for the privilege of hiring.
  • (20) He said there was a whiff of revenge in the air – for the police inquiry into MPs' expenses and the unjustified arrest in 2008 of the Tory MP Damian Green over a series of leaks from the Home Office about immigration.