Huff means to breathe heavily, especially in a way that shows you're annoyed, tired, or working hard. When your older sister stomps to her room and huffs loudly because she didn't get her way, she's making an exaggerated breathing sound to show her frustration. After running three laps around the gym, you might be huffing and puffing from the effort.

The word captures both the sound and the feeling behind it. Someone might huff in irritation when asked to clean their room for the third time, or huff with exertion while climbing steep stairs with a heavy backpack.

You can also huff off somewhere, which means to leave in an obviously annoyed way, making sure everyone notices your displeasure. If someone's feelings get hurt easily, you might say they're huffy, meaning they get offended quickly and show it through their breathing, sighs, or tone of voice.

As a noun, a huff is a burst of annoyed breathing or attitude. The phrase in a huff describes leaving or reacting with visible anger or annoyance. When someone leaves in a huff, they're making sure everyone knows their displeasure through their dramatic exit.