naff

See also: Naff

English

Etymology

Perhaps from Polari, 1960s. Further etymology unknown; perhaps a conscious corruption of either fanny or eff (off) (see naff off).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /næf/

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æf

Adjective

naff (comparative naffer, superlative naffest)

1. (British, Ireland, colloquial, Polari) Bad; tasteless, poorly thought out, not workable.

   That tie is a bit naff, don’t you think?

   • 1998, Robert Llewellyn, The Man on Platform Five, London: Hodder & Stoughton, →ISBN, page 291:

     She was an ordinary woman in her dress style; she didn't wear a leather bodice or naff over-knee plastic spiky-heeled boots.

   • 2004, J. J. Connolly, Layer Cake, spoken by XXXX (Daniel Craig):

     I mean ten years ago a bit of charlie was for pop stars or a celebrities birthday bash. It was demonized by Daily Mail Readers getting drunk in naff wine bars.

   • 2012, Simon Doonan, Gay men don't get fat, New York: Blue Rider Press, →ISBN, page 206:

     Remember, “tacky” means “cheap or glitzy”, whereas “naff” is about stylistic shortcomings which are horrifyingly average and pathetically ordinary. The Jersey Shore is tacky, but The Bachelor is naff.

   • 2019 February 24, Barbara Ellen, “Amy Winehouse could belt out a tune – her naff hologram can’t”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     A mere seven years after her tragic death, isn’t it grim and tasteless to send her hologram off on some naff tour?

   • 2023 May 13, John Naughton, “A moment’s silence, please, for the death of Mark Zuckerberg’s metaverse”, in The Observer‎^[2], →ISSN:

     Note that last phrase: what actually emerged was a virtual-reality platform called Horizon Worlds, accessible only via naff and clunky Oculus headsets (think an uncomfortable version of Zoom) […]

2. (Polari) Heterosexual.
   • 2004, Pip Granger, Trouble In Paradise:

     The omie was a veritable donkey beneath the waistband, darlings. A donkey! No wonder your boss-palone is so smitten. I've seen my share, dollies, but this old omiepalone was shaken to the core. Such a terrible waste on a naff bloke.

Derived terms

• naff all
• naff off

Translations

in poor taste, not workable

• Dutch: smakeloos (nl)
• Hungarian: ciki (hu), cikis, gáz (hu)
• Russian: отстойный (ru) (otstojnyj), по́шлый (ru) (póšlyj)

See also

• niff-naff

Further reading

• “naff”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.
• “naff”, in Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: Merriam-Webster, 1996–present.
• Jonathon Green (2024) “naff adj.¹”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• Jonathon Green (2024) “naff adj.²”, in Green’s Dictionary of Slang
• “naff”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.

Anagrams

• FNAF, FNaF

Middle English

Noun

naff

1. (Northern) Alternative form of nave