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

After a positive first half, the Current was done in by a series of second-half gaffes — three critical moments without the ball. — Daniel Sperry, Kansas City Star, 15 July 2026

The gaffe is the result of Microsoft, which oversees the signing of shims, failing to revoke the publicly available images once vulnerabilities were found in them. — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 14 July 2026

As for Freese, he’ll be remembered for the gaffe that gifted Belgium its third goal, but the position is a complete toss-up going forward. — Tom Bogert, New York Times, 9 July 2026

Martin Brundle abruptly ended a brief interview with Hugh Grant after an awkward gaffe. — Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 6 July 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