gaffe

play

noun \ˈgaf\

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

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.

— ishaan tharoor, Washington Post, "The West is indifferent to Afghanistan and Iraq’s world of terror", 2 June 2017
The gaffe turned up in Sussex, a village about 20 miles northwest of Milwaukee.

— the associated press, The Seattle Times, "Painting break results in town greeting visitors with ‘sex’", 1 June 2017
The gaffe came as the Trump administration butts diplomatic heads with Europe over issues such as trade and defense spending.

— chicagotribune.com, "After Putin visit, Tillerson snubbed top EU official", 1 June 2017
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.

— richard goldstein, New York Times, "Roberto De Vicenzo, a Golf Champion Remembered More for a Gaffe, Dies at 94", 1 June 2017
Sergio Romo escaped a jam in the seventh after a baserunning gaffe by a Cardinals rookie.

— andy mccullough, latimes.com, "Dodgers, Rich Hill avenge a loss to Cardinals with a 5-1 victory, and bullpen is big", 29 May 2017
Lindor, the recipient of Gold Glove and Platinum Glove awards last season, committed the gaffe, which positioned runners at the corners.

— zack meisel, cleveland.com, "Cleveland Indians again falter late in 6-4 loss to Kansas City Royals", 26 May 2017
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.

— olin chism, star-telegram, "Review: Cliburn’s first day ends with three strong performances", 25 May 2017
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.

— andy patrizio, WIRED, "Why the DVD Hack Was a Cinch", 2 Nov. 1999

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.