Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. interfering, meddlesome.

1834		Dickens ‘Horatio Sparkins’ in Slater Dickens’ Journalism I (1994) 351: A little spoffish man with green spectacles.
1835		Dickens ‘Steam Excursion’ in Godey’s Mag. 10 86/1: He invariably spoke with astonishing rapidity; was smart, spoffish, and eight-and-twenty.
1873		Dark Blue Mag. 447: A light- haired spoffish young fellow, who sang bass.
1884		E. Yates Recollections II 244: A little spoffish American gentleman [...] had regarded me with great curiosity .
1896		(ref. to 1850s) Graphic (London) 25 Apr. 13/1: Can anyone tell me the meaning of the word ‘spoffish’ in use some fifty years ago? [...] In the writings of Charles Dickens.
1935		West Coast Sentinel (Streaky Bay, SA) 13 Dec. 10/1: The said word is ‘spoffish,’' and has nothing whatever to dc with ‘spoof.’ Rather does it signify ‘officious.’ The spoffish man is brisk and fussy and often an uninvited organiser.

2. smart, fashionable.

1890		St James’s Gaz. (London) 24 May 3/2: In the Whitsun morning [...] honest cockney Bill [...] dressed himself in his smartish and ‘spoffish’ best.
1890		St James’s Gaz. (London) 6 Aug. 5/2: Here we are in the very fun of the fair! [...] here is my deft barber with spoffish coat and trim black tie.
1902		‘The Electioneering Hack’ in Sydney Mail 18 Jan. 133: This per sonage was a middle-aged man, a spoffish, of quite superior ‘culchaw.’ His accent betokened him to be a native of the Emerald Isle, but he was possessed of absolutely none of the bonhommie or courtesy that invariably marks the educated Irish man.