gaffe

gaffe

noun \ˈgaf\

Definition of GAFFE

1

: a social or diplomatic blunder

2

: a noticeable mistake

Examples of GAFFE

1. He realized that he had committed an awful gaffe when he mispronounced her name.
2. <committed a huge gaffe when she started drinking from the finger bowl>

Origin of GAFFE

French, gaff, gaffe

First Known Use: 1909

Related to GAFFE

Synonyms: familiarity, faux pas, gaff, impropriety, indiscretion, solecism

Antonyms: amenity, attention, civility, courtesy, formality, gesture, pleasantry

Related Words: blunder, error, flub, fumble, goof, lapse, miscue, misstep, mistake, oversight, slip, slipup, stumble; discourtesy, incivility, offense (or offence); boner, howler; foul-up, muff; misapprehension, miscalculation, misconception, misjudgment, misstatement, misunderstanding

Near Antonyms: form, manners, mores, proprieties

see all synonyms and antonyms

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Other Government and Politics Terms

agent provocateur, agitprop, autarky, cabal, egalitarianism, federalism, hegemony, plenipotentiary, popular sovereignty, socialism

Rhymes with GAFFE

caff, calf, chaff, daff, gaff, graph, half, laugh, quaff, raff, sclaff, staff, staph, Waf, waff