gaffe

See also gaffé

English

Alternative forms

• gaff

Etymology

From French gaffe (“blunder”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• IPA: /ɡæf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Noun

gaffe (plural gaffes)

1. A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public.

Synonyms

• (a mistake): blooper, blunder, boo-boo, defect, error, fault, faux pas, fluff, lapse, mistake, slip, stumble, thinko
• See also Wikisaurus:error

Translations

a foolish error, especially one made in public

• Breton: fazienn (br) f, fallvarch (br) m
• Bulgarian: гаф (bg) (gaf) m, грешка (bg) (greška) f
• Danish: fejltagelse (da)
• Dutch: blunder (nl)
• Finnish: möhläys (fi), munaus (fi), moka (fi)
• French: gaffe (fr) f

• Mandarin: 出醜 (cmn)
• Norwegian: brøler (no) m
• Polish: gafa (pl) f
• Portuguese: gafe (pt)
• Romanian: gafă (ro) f

See also

• malapropism
• Freudian slip
• Bushism

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French

Etymology

From Old Provençal gaf (“clasp”), from Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐍆𐌰𐌷 (gafah, “clasp”), from *𐌲𐌰- (ga-) (intensifier) + 𐍆𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (fahan, “to catch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡaf/, X-SAMPA: /gaf/

Noun

gaffe f (plural gaffes)

1. gaffe, blunder, goof-up (North American), cock-up (British)

See also

• faire gaffe

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German

Verb

gaffe

1. First-person singular present of gaffen.
2. Imperative singular of gaffen.
3. First-person singular subjunctive I of gaffen.
4. Third-person singular subjunctive I of gaffen.

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Italian

Noun

gaffe f

1. Plural form of gaffa

Noun

gaffe f (invariable)

1. gaffe, blunder, boob