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

For a show that claims to know Hollywood as well as this one, there are a number of all-too-convenient gaffes. —Ben Travers, IndieWire, 27 Jan. 2026

Every goaltender has those nightmare bounces, the gaffes that draw more eyes online than the brilliant saves. —Aaron Portzline, New York Times, 26 Jan. 2026

After deleting the comment, Drozd joked about the gaffe of speaking publicly. —Kory Grow, Rolling Stone, 23 Jan. 2026

This could illuminate the types of mistakes or gaffes that a therapist just out of the gate might make. —Lance Eliot, Forbes.com, 21 Jan. 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
• graff
• graph
• haff
• half
• laugh
• raff
• staff
• staph
• autograph

Kids Definition

gaffe

noun

ˈgaf 

: a noticeable mistake especially of manners