gaffe

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

Synonyms & Antonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about gaffe

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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 on the Web

With Arkansas looking worried after the gaffe, the Beavers started to rally. — Jenna West, SI.com, "Watch: Arkansas Loses College World Series Clincher With Foul Ball Gaffe," 27 June 2018 Oake tried to move on from the gaffe by trying to shake hands with Kopitar, but Kopitar went straight to the stage. — Eduardo Gonzalez, latimes.com, "NHL Awards get awkward when card trick meant to celebrate Kings' Kopitar falls flat," 21 June 2018 Regardless, the gaffe opened the floodgates on social media, and the Sixers’ resident Twitter expert, Joel Embiid (fresh off playing tennis at a public court at 10th and Lombard Streets), didn’t disappoint. — Rob Tornoe, Philly.com, "Joel Embiid mocks J.R. Smith's blunder; LeBron James has some words for an ESPN reporter," 1 June 2018 Bishop is unlikely to commit the type of major gaffe that may be necessary to upend his advantage. — NBC News, "If Democrats can win here, they're on the way to a wave," 11 June 2018 Secretariat was going much too fast and might have blown up at any second, in which case tremendous machine would live on as a gaffe. — Tim Layden, SI.com, "Remembering Chic Anderson’s Legendary Call of Secretariat’s Record Run at 1973 Belmont Stakes," 4 June 2018 This persistent image problem is exacerbated by public relations gaffes. — Sean W. Fleming, WIRED, "Lessons from Montecito: Science's Credibility Is At Stake," 14 May 2018 But the ad, in fact, boosted the gaffe-prone Mr. Akin with Republican primary voters, exactly what Ms. McCaskill wanted. — Nicholas Fandos, New York Times, "In Missouri, Governor’s Scandal Ensnares a Republican-Leaning Senate Race," 12 Apr. 2018 Throughout his career, Johnson has managed to surmount the sort of gaffes that have brought other politicians down. — Gregory Katz, The Seattle Times, "Out as UK foreign secretary: One more twist in Boris saga," 9 July 2018

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.

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More Definitions for gaffe

gaffe

noun

English Language Learners Definition of gaffe

: a mistake made in a social situation

See the full definition for gaffe in the English Language Learners Dictionary

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