daft

adjective

ˈdaft 

 also  ˈdäft

1

chiefly British, informal : silly, foolish

Don't do anything daft.

see also daft as a brush

2

chiefly British, informal : mad, insane

… he looks at me as if I were daft.

—Johanna McGeary

3

Scotland : frivolously merry

daftly adverb

daftness

ˈdaf(t)-nəs 

noun

Synonyms

• stupid
• silly
• foolish
• absurd
• mad
• insane
• crazy
• idiotic

Examples of daft in a Sentence

Your idea seems a bit daft to me.

She looked at us as if we'd gone daft.

Recent Examples on the Web

Kasper Schmeichel having to concede a free kick by punching a daft backpass off his own goal line, above, was their performance in a nutshell. —Phil Hay, New York Times, 27 Aug. 2025

Grizzled and angry where his Police Squad daddy (Leslie Nielsen) was daft and entitled, Lt. Frank Drebin Jr. is a widowed copper struggling to play by the rules in a new era of police accountability. —David Ehrlich, IndieWire, 30 July 2025

The belief that normal service had resumed was daft. —Tim Ellis, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025

Heckerling's 1995 film, a loose adaptation of Jane Austen's witty novel of young love, Emma, centers on Silverstone's sunny, good-hearted, yet at times slightly daft heroine. —Ryan Coleman, EW.com, 17 Apr. 2025

Word History

Etymology

Middle English daffte, daft, defte "well-mannered, gentle, dull, foolish," going back to Old English gedæfte "gentle, mild, meek," adjective derivative of a Germanic base *daƀ- "becoming, fit" (whence also Old English gedafen "appropriate, fitting," Gothic gadaban "to happen, be suitable," with lengthened grade Old English gedēfe "fitting, worthy, quiet, tranquil," Middle Dutch onghedoef "wild, rough," Gothic gadob ist "it is fitting"), going back to dialectal Indo-European *d^hab^h- or *d^hob^h-, whence also Old Church Slavic podobati "to become, be fitting," dobrŭ "good, pleasant," Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian dôba, dȍba "time, season," Lithuanian dabà "nature, character," dabnùs "well-dressed, elegant"

Note: The sense progression from Germanic to Modern English is apparently "fit, becoming" to "well-mannered, modest" to "dull, stupid" to "foolish, irrational." See also deft.

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing daft

• as daft as a brush
• daft as a brush

Rhymes for daft

• aft
• chaffed
• craft
• draft
• draught
• graft
• graphed
• haft
• kraft
• laughed
• raft
• shaft

Kids Definition

daft

adjective

ˈdaft 

chiefly British, informal

1

: foolish, silly

2

: insane, mad

daftly adverb

daftness

ˈdaf(t)-nəs 

noun