Definition of gaffe
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
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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 of gaffe from the Web
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In the global news cycle, a bombing in Baghdad or a Taliban strike in Kabul is like a typhoon in the Pacific or a Sean Spicer gaffe.
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The gaffe turned up in Sussex, a village about 20 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
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The gaffe came as the Trump administration butts diplomatic heads with Europe over issues such as trade and defense spending.
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Roberto De Vicenzo, Argentina’s finest international golfer, who won the British Open and the first United States Senior Open but was remembered most for one of the game’s most storied gaffes, died on Thursday in Argentina.
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Sergio Romo escaped a jam in the seventh after a baserunning gaffe by a Cardinals rookie.
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Lindor, the recipient of Gold Glove and Platinum Glove awards last season, committed the gaffe, which positioned runners at the corners.
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The opening session in Bass Hall on Thursday afternoon featured an international cast, none of whom committed any obvious disqualifying gaffes and all of whom contributed something of value.
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The anonymous developers of the decryption program that removes DVD copy protection had an easy time doing it, thanks to a gaffe by a software developer and the surprising weakness of the encryption technology.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'gaffe'. Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Origin and Etymology of gaffe
borrowed from French, probably a sense development of gaffe 1gaff
Other Government and Politics Terms
GAFFE Defined for English Language Learners
gaffe
playDefinition of gaffe for English Language Learners
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: a mistake made in a social situation
Learn More about gaffe
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See words that rhyme with gaffe Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for gaffe Spanish Central: Translation of gaffe Nglish: Translation of gaffe for Spanish speakers
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