gaffe

noun

ˈgaf 

1

: a social or diplomatic blunder

committed an embarrassing gaffe when he mispronounced her name

2

: a noticeable mistake

Kwan did not fall today, as she had in Friday's short program, a gaffe that left her in fourth place.

—Christopher Clarey

Synonyms of gaffe

• blunder
• mistake
• error
• indiscretion

Examples of gaffe in a Sentence

He realized that he had committed an awful gaffe when he mispronounced her name.

committed a huge gaffe when she started drinking from the finger bowl

Recent Examples on the Web

Shroff also said the debate produced no major gaffes or race-changing moments in a contest that has already attracted substantial national attention and spending. — Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026

But the clips are inescapable on my Instagram feed, and the science gaffes seem … real bad. — Brittany Trang, STAT, 7 Oct. 2026

One of its more glaring gaffes within the past couple years is the delay of Caitlin Clark's signature sneaker. — Matt Calkins Outkick, FOXNews.com, 5 Oct. 2026

Uncharacteristic gaffes could have proved costly, from a punt bouncing off Siran Neal’s legs to Eddy Piñeiro’s golden boot missing two point-after kicks. — Cam Inman, Mercury News, 28 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, probably a sense development of gaffe gaff entry 1

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for gaffe

• calf
• chaff
• gaff
• graf
• graff
• graph
• haff
• half
• laugh
• raff
• staff
• staph

Kids Definition

gaffe

noun

ˈgaf 

: a noticeable mistake especially of manners