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Glite Dictionary
💪 To build muscle 🛡️ To gain power
to get buff

to get buff

1 6.1
To build strong muscles and become more fit by exercising
  • phrasal verb
  • /ɡɛt bʌf/
  • Informal
translation icon : ponerse en forma
  • To improve his physique, James decided to start a new workout routine to get buff.
  • get so buff

Examples

  • He is focused on his fitness goals because he wants to get buff before summer.

  • I don't want to get too buff.

    G-Force (2009)

  • I choose to take it as "Hey, you got buff!"

    Blog text (15)

  • Well, I can't wait to get buff.

    Bad Teacher (2011)

  • That's why I think we're getting stronger, you know, because we're working it out, getting buff.

    Chronicle (2012)

  • Justin Bieber is trying to get buff.

    Blog text (15)

  • The influx of hormones that a pregnant woman is bombarded with includes testosterone, and so Kim got super buff.

    Blog text (23)

  • After months of rigorous training at the gym, she finally began to get buff and felt more energized.

Synonyms

to tone up
vsto get buff
1 3.8

To make muscles firmer and stronger by exercise

builds larger muscle mass often through heavy training
to buff up
vsto get buff
  • Informal
1 5.8

To make something better in how it works or how it looks

focuses specifically on increasing muscle size and fitness

How Muscular

ripped
  • Slang
3.7
to get buff
  • Informal
1 6.1
to tone up
1 3.8

Surface Forms

get buff infinitive
getting buff present participle
gets buff third person singular
got buff past
got buff past participle

Morphology

get + buff

A learner who knows 'get' (become/receive) and 'buff' (muscular, strong) can plausibly infer a meaning like 'become stronger' or 'gain strength', so there is a clear compositional link to the gaming sense. However, the specific gaming jargon—a temporary, mechanical increase to stats or abilities—is a specialized use of 'buff' (noun/verb) and the transient/technical aspect is not fully predictable from the adjective, making the expression only partially transparent.

Etymology

Get buff comes from the word buff, which one popular story says meant 'to polish' or make shiny. Because working out makes muscles look smooth and strong, to get buff came to mean 'to become muscular'.