oomph slang (orig. U.S.).
(uːmf)
Also umph, umphh, oomf.
[Of imitative origin.]
Sex appeal, glamour, attractiveness; vitality, enthusiasm. Also attrib., esp. oomph girl.
| 1937 Sat. Even. Post 10 Apr. 55/2 With actors, the ‘it’ quality has to do with their visual personality—sex appeal, magnetism, or whatever you care to call it. Back of the camera, we refer to the ingredient as ‘umphh’. 1937 W. Winchell in San Francisco Examiner 12 Sept. 25/6 Jolson's energy gave the show most of its umph too, that gave the Gershwin memorial program its pace. 1939 Sun (Baltimore) 29 Apr. 10/3 The modern [girl] knows she'll make the grade if she has plenty of oomph. 1939 Life 31 July 2 Three cheers for the Oomph Girl—yours, Look's and Collier's—all in one week!.. This Ann Sheridan certainly must have oomph to win the attention of three such important magazines in issues which hit the newsstands at the same time. 1939 W. C. & H. S. Pryor Let's go to Movies 52 ‘Look, Alice’—to the heroine—‘try to put a little more ‘umph’ into your lovemaking. 1942 ‘W. B. Johnson’ Widening Stain 30 Lucie Coindreau, you know, is the oomph-girl of the Romance Language Department. 1943 P. Cheyney You can always Duck xii. 192 She has such allure, sex appeal, oomph an' what-have-you-got generally. 1951 New Yorker 6 Oct. 34/1 Q—What else does it [sc. the plot of the play] lack? A—Substance, drive, authority, emotional power, and oomph. 1960 Guardian 19 May 9/3 A Lhasa belle, complete with high heels, lipstick, and ‘oomph’. 1970 Daily Tel. 20 Jan. 15/2 This strictly-tailored suit has more oomph than any see-through ever had. 1973 Philadelphia Inquirer (Today Suppl.) 7 Oct. 41/1 If it's on plain black and white paper it doesn't have the oomf. Especially to children, it just doesn't have the oomf. 1974 She Jan. 80/4 We were going to need..a fantasy element to generate enough excitement..in the children to give them the necessary oomph. 1974 San Francisco Examiner 1 May 35/1 He says I ought to use my ‘oomph’ to help get BART [sc. Bay Area Rapid Transit] finished. What ‘oomph’ is the man talking about? Ibid. 35/2 All old World War II types will remember when Annie S. was ‘the oomph girl’. 1977 Church Times 28 Oct. 9/3 This prayer may take the form of thanks—for the fact that I am alive with enough energy and oomph to my personality to hate and lust. |