noun
smurf
smurf
noun
1
One of the small blue fictional characters from the Belgian comic and cartoon franchise The Smurfs.
"Her son's bedroom is covered in Smurf posters."
2
In gaming, a skilled player who creates a new low-level account to play against much weaker opponents.
"That "beginner" was clearly a smurf — no new player plays that well."
verb
1
In finance or crime, to break up a large transaction into many small ones to avoid detection.
"The accountant was smurfing deposits to stay under the reporting threshold."
How to Use Smurf
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishEither the blue cartoon character, or (in gaming/finance slang) someone hiding their true skill level or the size of a transaction.
Common pairings
smurf account
smurfing transactions
Word Forms
smurfed past tense, smurfs plural, smurves plural, smurfs singular
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Etymology
From the Belgian comic Les Schtroumpfs, created by Peyo; the English name Smurf comes via Dutch smurf, adapted from the French schtroumpf.