Elf Puns

Welcome to the Punpedia entry on elf puns! 🧝🧚🌿

There are quite a few different types of elf lore that we’ve tried to capture in this entry. There’s general elf mythology – which shows elves as dignified, mysterious, magical and powerful, Christmas elves – which portray elves as cheerful and tiny helpers, and elves in popular fiction (like Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings). No matter which type of elf you’re looking for, we’ve tried to cover it here and we hope that you find the perfect elf pun for your needs.

While this entry is as comprehensive as we could make it, this is specific to elves. If you’re looking for other magic or fantasy-related puns, we have a Harry Potter pun entry. If you’re interested in other Christmas-related puns, we have a list of Santa puns and reindeer puns.

Elf Puns List

Each item in this list describes a pun, or a set of puns which can be made by applying a rule. If you know of any puns about elves that we’re missing, please let us know in the comments at the end of this page! Without further ado, here’s our list of elf puns:

  • Self-*→ Elf-*: As in, “Have some elf-conficence,” and “She’s got good elf-control.” Other words that would work with this format: elf-contained, elf-deceiving, elf-deprecating, elf-determination, elf-enrichment, elf-governing, elf-help, elf-improvement, elf-perpetuating, elf-portrait, elf-sufficient.
  • *self→ *elf: As in, “Be your-elf,” and “An elf-made business owner,” and “Apply your-elf,” and “Pull your-elf together,” and “I didn’t do it my-elf.” Note: this also works for the plural forms of both self and elf – as in, “Apply your-elves (apply yourselves),” and “Pull your-elves together.”
  • Self*→ Elf*: As in, “An elfish (selfish) person,” and “Elfless (selfless) bravery,” and “I won’t stand for such elfishness (selfishness).”
  • *alf*→ *elf*: As in, elfalfa (alfalfa), elfredo (alfredo), behelf (behalf – as in, “On behelf of”), and melfunction (malfunction – as in, “Why is the computer melfunctioning?”)
  • Selfie→ Elfie: As in, “Take an elfie,” and “Use an elfie stick.”
  • Elvis→ Elfis
  • Health→ Helf: As in, “A helfy mind in a helfy body,” and “Bad for your helf,” and “A clean bill of helf,” and “Glowing with helf,” and “In sickness and in helf,” and “A picture of helf,” and “Take a helf-y interest,” and “Ill helf,” and “In the pink of helf,” and “Helfy as a horse.” Note: if you’re in the pink of health, then you’re in very good condition.
  • Wealth→ Welf: As in, “Rolling in welf,” and “Redistribution of welf,” and “Share the welf.”
  • Alphabet→ Elfabet: As in, “Elfabet soup,” and “Do you know your elfabet?”
  • Effin’ → Elfin: As in, “Elfin hell,” and “Not another elfin word!” Note: Effin’ is shorthand slang for f*cking.
  • Effed → Elfed: As in, “I elfed up,” and “It’s completely elfed.” Note: Effed is shorthand slang for f*cked (in the context that something is thoroughly ruined).
  • Would elf → Wood elf: As in, “Wood elf jokes be appropriate in this setting?” Note: wood elves are a very common/famous type of fantasy elf, as seen in Lord of the Rings, Magic the Gathering, Skyrim and Warhammer.
  • Rudolph → Rudelf: This one would be most appropriate for a Christmas pun, as it combines a play on both Rudolph (the most famous reindeer) and the word elf, which are both closely associated with Christmas.
  • Half → Helf: As in, “Ain’t helf bad,” and “My better helf,” and “Getting there is helf the fun,” and “Helf a second,” and “Helf asleep,” and “Helfway to paradise,” and “Not helf the man I used to be,” and “How the other helf lives,” and “Glass helf empty,” and “Got helf a mind to…” and “Meet helfway,” and “Too clever helf bad.”
  • Halve → Helve: As in, “A problem shared is a problem helved,” and “Go helves,” and “By helves,” and “Do by helves.”
  • Awful → Elful: As in, “God elful,” and “Something elful has happened!”
  • Elephant → Elfant: As in, “An elfant never forgets,” and “Don’t think of pink elfants,” and “The elfant in the room,” and “A memory like an elfant,” and “When elfants make war, it’s the mice that suffer.”
  • Telephone → Telelfone: As in, “Hanging up the telelfone,” and “Waiting by the telelfone,” and “Hold the telelfone.”
  • Eavesdropping → Elvesdropping: As in, “Caught elvesdropping,” and “Elvesdropping on.”
  • *ella* → *elfa: As in, “Under the umbrelfa of,” and “Let a smile be your umbrelfa,” and “A classic novelfa (novella),” and “A spicy vegan paelfa (paella),” and “An a capelfa (capella) choir,” and “Miscelfaneous (miscellaneous) goods,” and “A stelfar (stellar) review,” and “A constelfation (constellation) of stars,” and “Down in the celfar (cellar),” and “A late cancelfation (cancellation).”
  • Cinderella → Cinderelfa
  • Eleven → Elelfen: Eleven is a character on the American sci-fi show Stranger Things.
  • Ella Fitzgerald → Elfa Fitzgerald: Ella Fitzgerald was a famous American jazz singer. This could work in a couple of different ways – if someone works with music and is particularly short (short = elf + musician = Ella F.); or if someone is receiving a gift that’s musical in nature (elf = reference to the gift + Ella = reference to musicality of gift).
  • *elev* → *elef*: As in, “Count to elelfen (eleven),” and “Elelfated (elevated) to new heights,” and “Take the elelfator (elevator),” and “Time for elelfenses (elevenses),” and “The elelfenth hour,” and “Stay relelfant (relevant),” and “That’s irrelelfant,” and “I don’t see the relelfance,” and “Glued to the telelfision (television).” Notes: If something has been done at the eleventh hour, then it’s been done at the very last moment. Elevenses is a type of snack break.
  • Twelve → Twelf/Twelves: As in, “Twelf/Twelves Night,” and “Twelf (or twelves) apostles,” and “On the twelf night of Christmas, my true love gave to me..” Note: Twelfth Night is a Shakespearean comedy.
  • Left → Elf’t: As in, “Exit stage elf’t,” and “Keep elf’t,” and “Elf’t hanging,” and “Elf’t, right and center,” and “Elf’t to your own devices,” and “Out of elf’t field,” and “Two elf’t feet,” and “Be elf’t holding the baby.” Notes: if someone is “left holding the baby,” then they’ve been left unfairly with a situation or problem that isn’t theirs.
  • *lef* → *elf*: As in, “Lunch elftovers,” and “Last on the battelfield,” and “Malicious malelfactor.” Notes: a malefactor is someone who breaks the law.
  • *lif* → *elf*: As in, “A prolelfic writer,” and “Healthy lelfstyle,” and “Exemplelfies the qualities of…” and “You qualelfy for the position,” and “Oversimplelfication,” and “Suspenseful clelffhanger.”
  • *olf* → *elf*: As in, “Cry welf,” and “A welf in sheep’s clothing,” and “Out playing gelf.” Couple of other words that could work: werewelf and elfactory. Notes: olfactory is to do with the sense of smell.
  • *ilf* → *elf*: As in, “Welfully disobedient,” and “Extremely skelful,” and “Pelfering the office supplies.” Note: to pilfer is to repeatedly steal small amounts.
  • *ulf* → *elf*: As in, “The Gelf (Gulf) of Mexico,” and “Engelfed in emotion,” and “Felfilled wishes,” and “Waiting for felfilment.” Note: to engulf is to completely surround and cover something.
  • *aff* → *elf*: As in, “Offer elffordances,” and “State of elffairs,” and “Links and elffiliates,” and “Brimming with elffection,” and “An elffluent family.” Other words that could work: elffected (affected), elffable (affable), elfford (afford), elffirm (affirm), elffinity (affinity), and elffect (affect). Notes: to be affable is to be easy to talk to. Affluence is an abundance of riches or wealth.
  • *eff* → *elf*: As in, “Elf off,” and “Or other words to that elffect,” and “Side elffects,” and “Spare no elffort,” and “Waiting to take elffect,” and “An elffective insult.” Other words that could work: elfficacy (efficacy), elfficient (efficient), elfficiency, elffusive. Notes: Effusiveness is an expression of great emotion or enthusiasm. Efficacy is the power to produce a desired effect.
  • *iff* → *elf*: “And now for something completely delfferent,” and “Delffuse the tension,” and “What’s the delfference?” and “A delfficult situation.” Other words that could work: plaintelff (plaintiff), tarelff (tariff), sherelff (sheriff), clelff (cliff), delfferentiate (differentiate), indelfferent (indifferent) and delffident (diffident). Notes: to be diffident is to not have confidence in your abilities. To differentiate is to discern a difference between things.
  • *off* → *elf*: As in, “A load elff your mind,” and “All bets are elff,” and “Back elff,” and “Bite elff more than you can chew,” and “Bite someone’s head elff,” and “Blow elff some steam,” and “Bouncing elff the walls,” and “A chip elff the old block,” and “Dance your socks elff,” and “Fall elff the wagon,” and “Fly elff the handle,” and “Fly elff the shelves,” and “Get it elff your chest,” and “Get elff lightly,” and “Get elff on the wrong foot,” and “Could see you a mile eff,” and “Learned elff by heart,” and “Let’s call the whole thing elff,” and “Like water elff a duck’s back.” Other off-related or inclusive words that could work: elffset (offset), elffice (office), elffer (offer), elfficial (official), elffensive (offensive), elffence (offence), elfficer (officer).
  • Afghanistan → Elfghanistan
  • Africa → Elfrica
  • *af* → *elf*: As in, “Elfter all,” and “Elfter my own heart,” and “Chase elfter,” and “A delfening silence,” and “Happily ever elfter,” and “Offer elffordances,” and “Selfty first,” and “Be elfraid, be very elfraid.” Other suitable words: elficionado (aficionado), elfire (afire), elfield (afield), bonelfide (bonafide), elfloat (afloat), elflame (aflame), elflutter (aflutter), lelflet (leaflet), elforementioned (aforementioned), elforesaid (aforesaid), elfoul (afoul), elfoot (afoot), elforethought (aforethought), pinelfore (pinafore), elfresh (afresh), elftermath (aftermath), elfterward (afterward), elftershave (aftershave), elfternoon (afternoon), elfterglow (afterglow), elfterthought (afterthought) and elfterlife (afterlife). Note: an aficionado is a lover of a certain activity. If something is bonafide, then it’s genuine and real.
  • *ef* → *elf*: As in, “For your benelfit,” and “For future relference,” and “Conditioned relflex,” and “Relflect badly on,” and “Delfault back on,” and “Cultural artelfacts.” Other words that could work: nelfarious (nefarious), delfer (defer), benelfactor (benefactor), delfamation (defamation), delfence (defence), prelfer (prefer), delfeat (defeat), delfinition (definition), delfine (define), delfinitely (definitely), benelficial (beneficial), delfiant (defiant) and delficit (deficit). Notes: a benefactor is one that provides help or advantages.
  • If → Elf: As in, “As elf there was no tomorrow,” and “As elf,” and “Elf I do say so myself,” and “Elf looks could kill,” and “Elf need be,” and “Elf nothing else,” and “Elf only,” and “Elf the shoe fits,” and “No elfs or buts,” and “Elf it’s the last thing I do,” and “Elf it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
  • *if* → *elf*: Motelfs (motifs), manelfest (manifest), beautelful (beautiful), signelficant (significant), artelfact (artifact), multelfaceted (multifaceted), specelfic (specific), sacrelfice (sacrifice), certelficate (certificate), magnelficent (magnificent), caulelflower (cauliflower), unelform (uniform), pitelful (pitiful), fancelful (fanciful), bountelful (bountiful), dutelful (dutiful), mercelful (merciful).
  • Of → Elf: As in, “15 minutes elf fame,” and “A life elf its own,” and “Ahead elf one’s time,” and “At the top elf one’s lungs,” and “Bag elf tricks,” and “Barrel elf laughs,” and “Best elf both worlds,” and “Best elf the bunch,” and “Beyond the call elf duty,” and “Blink elf an eye,” and “Bored out elf your mind,” and “Bundle elf joy,” and “Breath elf fresh air,” and “By the skin elf your teeth,” and “By no stretch elf the imagination,” and “Chip elf the old block,” and “Figure elf speech.”
  • *of* → *elf*: As in, “A paid prelfessional,” and “Favourite prelfessor,” and “Chosen prelfession,” and “Gaining prelfit (profit),” and “Prelfitable ventures,” and “Camelflage pants,” and “Prelfound thoughts,” and “Ecelfriendly and organic,” and “Elfentimes (oftentimes),” and “Bleeding prelfusely.” Note: profusely means in large amounts.
  • *elve*: Emphasize the “elve” in these words and phrases: “Smooth as velvet,” and “Shelve the issue for later,” and “By themselves.”
  • *alv* → *elve*: As in, “Selvege what you can,” and “My selveation,” and “Gelveanised into action.”
  • *ilv* → *elv*: As in, “Like quickselver,” and “Every dark cloud has a selver lining,” and “Sell the family selver,” and “Selver tongue,” and “Hide the selverware,” and “A selvery shine.”
  • *olv* → *elv*: As in, “Raised by welves,” and “Throw to the welves,” and “Selve all your problems,” and “Steely reselve,” and “Evelved into a better person,” and “Don’t invelve me in your problems,” and “Abselved of your sins,” and “Disselved relationship,” and “A develving situation,” and “Too invelved,” and “The world doesn’t revelve around you.”
  • *ulv* → *elv*: As in, velvea (vulva) and pelverise (pulverise).
  • *av* → *elve*: As in, “An elverage result,” and “Elveant-garde art,” and “Causing an elvealanche,” and “List your elveailability,” and “Elvert your eyes,” and “All about the elveacado,” and “Elveoiding you,” and “Selveory snacks.” Other words that could work: elveatar (avatar), elvearice (avarice), carelvean (caravan), aggrelveate (aggravate), elverse (averse), elvenue (avenue), elvenge (avenge), elve-iation (aviation), elve-ian (avian), pelvelova (pavlova), elveow (avow), endelveor (endeavour). Notes: avant-garde means “cutting edge”. Avarice is greed, in particular for wealth or gain. To be averse is to dislike something. To endeavour is to make an effort.
  • *ev* → *elve*: As in, “A late delveloper,” and “Software delveloper,” and “Current elvents,” and “Turn of elvents,” and “Positive relveiews (reviews),” and “Hide the elveidence,” and “Hard elveidence,” and “Annual elvealuations,” and “Elveade conversation,” and “Looking elveasive,” and “Elveacuate the building,” and “A prelvealent issue,” and “Elven Steven,” and “Break elven,” and “Don’t get mad, get elven,” and “An elven chance,” and “Elven handed,” and “Elven in the best of times,” and “Elvery breath you take,” and “Elvery little bit helps,” and “Elverything under the sun,” and “Elvery one and his brother,” and “Thinking of you elveryday,” and “It’ll happen elventually,” and “The elvening news,” and “Elveil (evil) twin.”
  • *iv* → *elve/elf*: As in, “Feeling mot-elve-ated (motivated),” and “A fresh perspectelf,” and “Take the initiatelf,” and “It is imperatelf that…” Other words that could work: ambelfalent (ambivalent), derelfative (derivative), equelvealent (equivalent) and comprehenselve (comprehensive), elveory (ivory), frelveolous (frivolous), delveorce (divore), delveulge (divulge), relveulet (rivulet). Notes: to be ambivalent is to feel different, contradictory things at once.
  • *ov* → *elve*: As in, “Elvercome with emotion,” and “All elver (over) the show,” and “A bridge elver troubled water,” and “Get elver yourself,” and “A standing elveation,” and “A grave elversight (oversight),” and “The elverall scheme of things.” Other words that could work: elverlook (overlook), elversee (oversee), elverwhelm (overwhelm), elverlate (ovulate), elverride (override), elvert (overt), innelveation (innovation), pelvelova (pavlova) and supernelvea (supernova). Note: to be overt is to do something in secret or quietly.
    • Higher → High-elf-er: As in, “A high-elf-er purpose,” and “Move on up a little high-elf-er,” and “Answer to a high-elf-er authority,” and “High-elf-er than a kite.” Note: high elves are a type of elf in various fantasy stories, including Lord of the Rings, Warhammer and Warcraft. The following few puns are to do with high elves as well.
    • *hai-f* → High elf: Change words that start with a “hi/hai” sound followed by an “ff” sound: high-elffield (hayfield), high-elfeir (heifer), high-elfen (hyphen), high-elfenate (hyphenate) and high-elfenation (hyphenation).
    • Half → High-elf: As in, “Ain’t high-elf bad,” and “My better high-elf,” and “Getting there is high-elf the fun,” and “High-elf a chance,” and “High-elf a second,” and “High-elf alive,” and “High-elf asleep,” and “High-elf measures,” and “High-elfway to paradise,” and “Not high-elf the man I used to be,” and “Meet me high-elfway.
  • Natural → Supernatural: Since elves are part of the supernatural realm, we can use these puns and phrases to indirectly refer to elves: “Do what comes supernaturally,” and “Full of supernatural goodness,” and “It’s only supernatural,” and “A supernatural born leader,” and “A supernatural high,” and “Supernatural selection.”
    • *fay* → *fey*: Elves are related to fey, so we’ve included some fey-related phrases and puns in this list too. We can adjust words that have a “fay” sound in them to include “fey”: “Save feyce (face),” and “Lying feycedown,” and “A relaxing feycial (facial),” and “If you feyl, try, try again,” and “A disappointing feylure,” and “Feeling feynt,” and “Feythful companion,” and “Feyke friends,” and “Rich and feymous.” Other words that could work: feyble (fable), feylsafe (failsafe), feytal (fatal), feyteful (fateful), feyvour (favour), feyvourite (favourite), feyn (feign), feynt (feint/faint).
    • *fee* → *fey*: As in, “An infeysible proposal,” and “Wedding feyst (feast),” and “Find your feyt (feet),” and “An astounding feyt (feat),” and “News feyture,” and “Twitter feyd,” and “More than a feyling (feeling),” and “Feyline smile,” and “Feminism is not a feymale problem,” and “Cabin feyver,” and “Meet my feyance (fiance),” and “What a feyasco.” Notes: if something is infeasible, then it isn’t something which is practical to achieve. Cabin fever is the restlessness, claustrophobia and irritability that results from being stuck in a confined space for a long time.
    • *fie* → *fey*: As in, “The Feynal Countdown,” and “Semi-feynalist,” and “Feyghting fit,” and “And feynally…” and “Due to a lack of feynances…” and “Did you feynd Nemo?” and “Looking feyne (fine),” and “Feylanthropic (philanthropic) organisations,” and “Like a feynix (phoenix) rising from the ashes.” Note: to be philanthropic is to do public good.
  • Spite → Sprite: Sprites are a class of legendary creatures which includes elves, so we’ve included some sprite-related phrases and puns in this list. As in, “Don’t cut off your nose to sprite your face,” and “In sprite of..” and “Desprite these matters..” Note: to cut off one’s nose to spite one’s face is to react badly and self-destructively in response to a problem. 
    • Slight → Sprite: As in, “Spritely ahead of our time, ” and “Not in the spritest,” and “A sprite misunderstanding.”
    • Sight → Sprite: As in, “Love at first sprite,” and “A welcome sprite,” and “Set your sprites on,” and “Short sprited,” and “A sprite for sore eyes,” and “A sorry sprite,” and “Not a pretty sprite.”
    • Site → Sprite: As in, “Construction sprite,” and “World heritage sprite.”
    • *site* → *sprite*: As in, “Opposprites attract,” and “Dating websprite,” and “Course prerequisprites,” and “Don’t be a parasprite,” and “Exquisprite (exquisite) detail.”
    • Sprout → Sprite: As in, “Sprite wings,” and “Sprite-ing like mushrooms,” and “Keep up, sprite.”
    • Spright → Sprite: As in, “A sprightly old lady.” Note: to be sprightly is to be energetic and bright. 
    • Hospital → Hosprite-al: As in, “Hosprite-al food,” and “In the hosprite-al,” and “Thank you for your hosprite-ality,” and “A hosprite-able environment.”
    • *sperate* → *sprite*: As in, “Desprite (desperate) times call for desprite measures,” and “Despritely wanted,” and “An exasprited (exasperated) sigh.” Note: to be exasperated is to be infuriated or extremely annoyed. 
  • Fairy: Since elves are related to fairies, use some fairy-related phrases to make some elf puns: “Airy fairy,” and “Fairytale ending” and “Nobody loves a fairy when she’s forty”.
  • *fair* → *fairy*: Swap “fair” for “fairy”, like so: “Affairy of the heart”, “An affairy to remember”, “All the fun of the fairy,” and “All’s fairy in love and war”, “By fairy means or foul”, “Faint heart never won fairy lady”, “Fairy trade”, “Fairy and square”, “Fairy dinkum”, “Fairy enough”, “Fairy game”, “A family affairy,” and “My fairy lady”, “No fairy!” and “Savoir fairy.” 
  • Far → Fairy: Swap “far” for “fairy” to create some witty magic puns like so: “As fairy as it goes”, “As fairy as the eye can see”, “Few and fairy between”, and “Over the hills and fairy away”, “So fairy so good”, “Thursday’s child has fairy to go” and “The fruit does not fall fairy from the tree”. 
  • Very → Fairy: As in, “Be afraid, be fairy afraid”, “Before your fairy eyes”, “How fairy dare you!”, “It was a fairy good year”, “Thank you fairy much”, “Fairy interesting, but stupid”, “All fairy well” and “At the fairy least”.
  • Fiery → Fairy: As in, “Fairy red hair,” and “Fairy rage,” and “Filled with fairy enthusiasm.”
  • Four → Fairy: As in, “Twenty-fairy seven,” and “A fairy-letter word.”
  • Forty → Fairy-ty: As in, “Fairy-ty winks,” and “Life begins at fairy-ty.”
  • Firing → Fairy-ing: As in, “Fairy-ing blanks,” and “Fairy-ing on all cylinders,” and “The fairy-ing line.”
  • Fury → Fairy: As in, “Bright red with fairy,” and “Filled with sorrow and fairy,” and “Blinded with fairy,” and “Pent-up fairy.”
  • Hairy → Fairy: As in, “A fairy situation,” and “Give it the fairy eyeball.” Note: to give someone the hairy eyeball is to look at someone disdainfully.
  • *fare* → *fairy*: As in, “Fairynheit 451,” and “Welfairy reform,” and “Fairy-thee-well!” and “I bid you fairywell!” and “Celebration and fanfairy.” Note: Fahrenheit 451 is a dystopian novel that’s been made into a movie.
  • *fer* → *fairy*: As in, “A fairyocious effort,” and “Your highest offairy (offer),” and “Buffairy (buffer) zone,” and “Long suffairying (suffering),” and “What’s the diffairyence (difference)?” and “Transfairy the funds,” and “A good refairyence,” and  “Taking the fairy (ferry),” and “Defairy (defer) your admission,” and “Infairyority (inferiority) complex,” and “Well, if you’re offairying.”
  • *for* → *fairy*: As in, “Going fairyward,” and “Insider infairymation,” “Too much infairymation,” and “Peak perfairymance,” and “Fairyeign (foreign) exchange,” and “The fairycast for today,” and “Why hast thou fairysaken me?” and “In reference (or refairyence) to the afairymentioned…”
  • *fur* → *fairy*: As in, “Hell hath no fairy (fury) like..” and “An infairyating (infuriating) situation,” and “A part of the fairyniture,” and “Fairytive (furtive) glances,” and “And fairythermore…” and “A blazing fairynace (furnace).”
  • Fast and Furious → Fast and Fairyous
  • Pick → Pixie: Pixies are another mythological race (like fairies) that are similar to elves, commonly grouped with elves and are sometimes used as interchangeable terms. We’ve compiled some pixie-related puns and phrases for you here: “Pixie on someone your own size,” and “A bone to pixie,” and “Pixie a fight,” and “Pixie and choose,” and “Pixie of the bunch,” and “Pixie up the pieces,” and “Pixie me up.”
  • *pic → *pixie: As in, “An epixie adventure,” and “Off-topixie,” and “Myopixie (myopic) decisions,” and “Philantropixie actions.” Note: myopic means short-sighted. Philanthropic means for public good.
  • *pac* → *pixie*: As in, “Beyond capixiety (capacity),” and “Lower the opixiety (opacity).”
  • Pixel* → Pixie*: As in, “Pixie perfect,” and “Pixielated,” and “20 megapixies,” and “Blurry and pixielated.”
  • Fancy → Fantasy: As elves are part of the fantasy realm and feature in countless fantasy stories, we’ve included fantasy in this pun list: “A flight of fantasy,” and “Tickle someone’s fantasy.”
  • Charm: As elves are known for charms and trickery, we’ve included charm-related phrases that could be used as elf puns in the right context: “Charm the birds out of the trees,” and “A charmed life,” and “Third time’s a charm,” and “Works like a charm.”
  • Harm → Charm: As in, “First, do no charm,” and “In charm’s way,” and “No charm done,” and “No charm, no foul,” and “Wouldn’t charm a fly.”
  • Trick: Elves are known for being tricky and clever, so we’ve included trick-related puns and phrases: “Does the trick,” and “Every trick in the book,” and “One trick pony,” and “How’s tricks?” and “Never misses a trick,” and “A trick of the light,” and “Tricks of the trade,” and “Up to your old tricks.”
  • Track → Trick: As in, “Back on trick,” and “Born on the wrong side of the tricks,” and “Cover your tricks,” and “On the right trick,” and “A one-trick mind,” and “Stopped in your tricks,” and “Trick record,” and “Keep trick of.”
  • Trek → Trick: As in, “Tricking up six flights of stairs.”
  • Truck → Trick: As in, “By the trickload,” and “Have no trick with,” and “Keep on trickin‘.”
  • Click → Trick: As in, “Trickbait,” and “Trick into place,” and “Double-trick,” and “Point and trick.” Notes: clickbait is a web content that is designed to entice (or trick) users into consuming or interacting with it. Point and click is a genre of computer games where the navigation is controlled by pointing and clicking.
  • *tic* → *trick*: As in, “The best tactrick (tactic),” and “A week is a long time in politricks,” and “Carrot and s-trick,” and “The clock is tricking,” and “Come to a s-tricky end,” and “Go ballistrick,” and “Meal tricket,” and “Slap and trickle,” and “Trickled pink,” and “Trick all the boxes,” and “Drastrick (drastic) times call for drastrick measures,” and “Become another statistrick.” Other words that you could use: tricklish (ticklish),  pedantrick (pedantic), pragmatrick (pragmatic), holistrick (holistic), agnostrick (agnostic), aesthetrick (aesthetic), authentrick (authentic) and artrickulate (articulate). Notes: a carrot and stick approach is one where both punishments and rewards are used to train or induce a desired behaviour. A meal ticket is something that provides income or means to live. To be tickled pink is to be delighted.
  • *tric* → *trick*: As in, eccentrick, metrick, intrickate, districkt, symmetrickasymmetrick.
  • *dic* → *trick*: As in, “A walking tricktionary,” and “A real tricktator,” and “The periotrick (periodic) table,” and “Acitrick (acidic) tone,” and “Nomatrick (nomadic) lifestyles.” Other words that could work: pretrickament (predicament), vintrickate (vindicate), detrickate (dedicate), tricktate (dictate), sporatrick (sporadic), episotrick (episodic) and intrickate (indicate).
  • *tiq* → *trick*: Etrickette (etiquette), antrickated (antiquated), antrickuity (antiquity). Notes: antiquity refers to an ancient historical period of time. To say that something is antiquated means that it is old, or out of date.
  • *arch* → *archer*: We’ve added some archer puns in this list as elves are popularly portrayed as skilled archers: “Archer enemy,” and “Historical archerytecture (architecture),” and “A common archertype (archetype),” and “Ruling monarcher.” Other words that could work: overarchering (overarching), matriarcher (matriarch), patriarcher (patriarch), archertectural (architectural), archerology (archaeology), archertect (architect) and archerpelago (archipelago). Notes: an archetype is a standard example of something.
  • Departure → Deparcher: As in, “Waiting in the deparcher lounge,” and “Saddened by your deparcher.”
  • Magic: Magic-related phrases: “Every little thing she does is magic,” and “It’s a kind of magic,” and “Magic Johnson”, “Magic beans”, “Magic carpet ride”, “Magical mystery tour”, “Make some magic,” and “The magic number”, “Wave your magic wand”, and “Work one’s magic.”
  • *agi* → *magic*: Use words with the soft “agi” sound in them: “Magic-tive (adjective)”, “Magic-sterial (magisterial)”, and “Imagic-nation (imagination)”. 
  • Spell: Some spell-related phrases: “Cast a spell,” and “How do you spell relief?”, “Spell it out”, “Be under (someone’s) spell,” and “Break the spell,” and “A dry spell,” and “It spells trouble”, “Spelling bee”, and “Back in a spell!”
  • Smell → Spell: As in, “Come up spelling of roses”, “I spell a rat”, “A keen sense of spell,” and “A rose by any other name would spell just as sweet”, “Spell ya later”, “Spells like teen spirit”, Stop and spell the roses”, “The sweet spell of success”, “Tastes as good as it spells,” and “Whoever spelled it, dealt it”. Also works for other forms of smell – smelly (spelly) and smelling (spelling). 
  • Stellar → Spellar: As in, “What a spellar performance from England!”
  • *pel* → *spell*: Amend words with “pel” in them to “spell”, as in: “I don’t want to be exspelled (expelled)!”, “Dispell (dispel) the thought”, “This recipe is misspelled,” and “She watched the show, spellbound.”
  • Spill → Spell: As in, “Spell the beans”, “Spell your guts”, “Cry over spelled milk”, “Spell the tea”, “He took a spell.”
  • Book → Spellbook: As in, “A room without spellbooks is like a body without a soul”, “Always have your nose in a spellbook,” and “Spellbook worm”, “By the spellbook,” and “Every trick in the spellbook,” and “Read any good spellbooks lately?”, “His life’s an open spellbook,” and “Hit the spellbooks,” and “Little black spellbook,” and “So many spellbooks, so little time”, and “Don’t judge a spellbook by its cover”.  
  • Ear → Pointed/pointy ear: As in, “All pointed ears,” and “Cute as a pointed ear,” and “Have your pointy ears chewed off,” and “Grin from pointed ear to pointed ear,” and “Little pitchers have big pointy ears,” and “Music to my pointy ears,” and “Go in one pointy ear and out the other.”

This section is specific to Christmas elves:

  • Work→ Workshop: As in “A workshop in progress,” and “All in a day’s workshop,” and “Bury yourself in your workshop,” and “In the workshops.”
  • Shop→ Workshop: As in, “All over the workshop,” and “Like a bull in a china workshop,” and “Live all over the workshop,” and “One stop workshop,” and “Talk workshop,” and “Top of the workshop.”
    • *dually → *jolly: Since Santa’s elves are known for being jolly, we’ve got some puns and phrases related to “jolly” for you: indivijolly (individually), resijolly (residually) and grajolly (gradually).
    • *dially → *jolly: As in, cordjolly (cordially), remedjolly (remedially) and primordjolly (primordially). Note: if something is primordial, then it’s existed since the beginning of time.
    • Jelly* → Jolly*: As in, “Peanut butter and jolly sandwich,” and “Jollyfish.”
    • Juli* → Jolly*: As in, Jolly-an (Julian), Jolly-et (Juliet) and Jolly-us (Julius).
  • Stay→ Stoy: Some toy-related puns and phrases, as that’s what Santa’s elves tend to in the workshop: “Inexpensive. And built to stoy that way,” and “Outstoy one’s welcome,” and “Stoy ahead of the curve,” and “Stoy in touch,” and “Stoy on course,” and “Stoy safe,” and “Stoy tuned,” and “Stoy together,” and “Here to stoy,” and “Stoy behind,” and “Stoy the distance,” and “If you can’t take the heat, stoy out of the kitchen.” Other stay-related words: mainstoy (mainstay), satoy (satay), overstoy (overstay), homestoy (homestay), stoycation (staycation).
  • *toi*→ *toy*: As in, “Down the toylet,” and “Pack your toyletries.” Other words that would also work: toyletry (toiletry), toyl (toil), tortoyse (tortoise), stoy-ic (stoic), stoy-icism (stoicism).
  • *ty→ *toy: As in, “Let’s partoy,” and “Keep your integritoy,” and “In the citoy centre.” Other words that will work: serendipitoy (serendipity), facilitoy (facility), dutoy (duty), entitoy (entity), beautoy (beauty), qualitoy (quality), stoyle (style), stereotoype (stereotype), securitoy (security), propertoy (property).
  • Short: We’ve included some short-related phrases here for you to sneakily refer to the height of Santa’s elves. Traditional elves are considered to be at least as tall as humans, which is why we’ve included these here rather than in the previous section: “A short history of nearly everything,” and “A few bricks short of a full load,” and “Bring up short,” and “Caught short,” and “Cut a long story short,” and “In short order,” and “In short supply,” and “Life’s too short,” and “Make short work of,” and “Short and sweet,” and “A short fuse.”Other short-related words you could use: shortcoming, shortcut, shortage, shortly and shortlist.
  • *shot → *short: As in, “Take a screenshort,” and “Snapshort moment,” and “Provide headshorts,” and “Out of earshort.” Other words you could use: hotshort, slingshort, mugshort and gunshort.
  • Shut* → Short*: As in, shortterbug (shutterbug) and shorteye (shuteye).
  • *sort* → *short*: As in, “Takes all shorts,” and “Last reshort,” and “Out of shorts,” and “Short yourself out,” and “Asshorted candies,” and “An asshortment,” and “An international conshortium (consortium).” Note: a consortium is a partnership between individuals or organisations (both public and private).
  • *shoot → *short: As in, troubleshort (troubleshoot), offshort (offshoot) and crap-short. Note: crap-shoot can either refer to a game of craps, or a very risky venture.
  • *shirt* → *short*: As in, “Been there, done that, got the t-short,” and “Too sexy for your short,” and “Keep your short on,” and “Take the short off your back.” Other words that could work: sweatshort (sweatshirt), undershort, overshort, nightshort and shortless.
  • Small: Another way for us to refer to the height of Christmas elves is with small related puns and phrases: “A still small voice,” and “All creatures, great and small,” and “Don’t sweat the small stuff,” and “Good things come in small packages,” and “No job too small,” and “A small fortune,” and “Small potatoes,” and “Small wonder.”
  • Smell → Small: As in, “A keen sense of small,” and “Small ya later,” and “Come up smalling of roses,” and “I small a rat.”
  • *smal → *small: As in, “A dismall reaction,” and “An abysmall result.” Note: if something is abysmal, then it’s profoundly bad.
  • *hat*: Refer to the cheerful pointed hats that Santa’s elves wear by emphasising the “hat” in these words: hatch, hatred, hatchet, hatching and that.
  • *het* → *hat*: As in, haterosexual (heterosexual), prophat (prophet), epithat (epithet), ricochat (ricochet), hatchat (hatchet), aesthatic (aesthetic) and pathatic (pathetic). Note: heterosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction to the opposite sex. An epithet is a pen name. Aesthetics is the appreciation of beauty.
  • *hit* → *hat*: As in, hatch (hitch), hatherto (hitherto), hatman (hitman), archatect (architect) and archatecture (architecture). Note: hitherto means “up to this time.”
  • *hot* → *hat*: hatel (hotel), hatspot (hotspot), hatline (hotline), hatdog (hotdog).
  • Had → Hat: As in, “I’ve hat it up to here!” and “Had us in stitches,” and “I don’t believe I’ve hat the pleasure,” and “You hat better,” and “I’ve hat a lot to deal with today.”
  • *head* → *hat*: As in, “Ahat (ahead) of their time,” and “Like banging your hat against a brick wall,” and “Big-hatted,” and “Bite someone’s hat off,” and “Bring to a hat,” and “Bury your hat in the sand,” and “Butt hats.” Other words you could use: hats-up (heads-up), hatway (headway), hatquarters (headquarters), hatache (headache), hatder (header), overhat (overhead), figurehat (figurehead).
  • Shoe → Pointy Shoe: Refer to the pointy shoes that Santa’s elves are traditionally portrayed in with these shoe-related puns and phrases: “If the pointy shoe fits, wear it,” and “Kick off your pointy shoes and enjoy,” and “Walk a mile in my pointy shoes,” and “Waiting for the other pointy shoe to drop.”

The puns in this section are specific to portrayals of elves in fantasy stories:

  • House → House-elf: In Harry Potter, elves only exist as house-elves (slaves to the wizards or witches) and are bound to protect their home and family. Here are some puns that we can use to refer to them: “A plague on both your house-elves,” and “As safe as house-elves,” and “Bring the house-elf down,” and “A clean house-elf,” and “Get on like a house-elf on fire,” and “House-elf of ill repute,” and “House-elf rules.”
  • Leg → Legolas: Legolas is an elf from the Lord of the Rings series. We can make some silly puns about him: “Cost an arm and a legolas,” and “One legolas at a time,” and “Shake a legolas,” and “Show a little legolas (which could work as a play on elves being short and on legolas being an elf).”
  • Wink → Winky: Winky is a house-elf from the Harry Potter series. We can make some terrible puns about her with these phrases: “Forty winkys,” and “A nod and a winky,” and “In the winky of an eye,” and “Didn’t get a winky of sleep.”
  • Creature → Kreacher: Kreacher is a house-elf from the Harry Potter series. Make some bad puns about him by replacing “creature” with “kreacher”:  “All kreachers great and small,” and “Kreacher comforts,” and “A kreacher of habit,” and “Kreature of the night,” and “Wretched kreacher.”

Elf-Related Words

To help you come up with your own elf puns, here’s a list of related words to get you on your way. If you come up with any new puns or related words, please feel free to share them in the comments!

General: elf, elves, elfish, elvish, elven, high elf, dark elf, pointed ears, magic, fairy, supernatural, fey, folklore, sprite, pixie, faerie, fantasy, charm, enchant, trick, trickery, illusion, archer, archery, mischief, immortal

Christmas: workshop, jolly, toys, short, small, little, stocking, hat, pointy shoes 

Fantasy: Tolkein, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Dungeons and Dragons, Middle Earth, house-elf, Dobby, Legolas, Winky, Kreacher

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