keffiyeh

noun

kef·​fi·​yeh kə-ˈfē-ə How to pronounce keffiyeh (audio)
variants or less commonly kaffiyeh
: a checkered scarf traditionally worn as a head covering by some men in the Middle East
Yasser Arafat, who was the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, helped popularize the keffiyeh around the world by almost always wearing one in public.Abdallah Fayyad

Examples of keffiyeh in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The group highlighted examples such as in 2025 when the critical race and ethnic studies departmental graduation ceremony at UC Santa Cruz allegedly passed out Palestinian flags and keffiyeh imagery to students, with a photo of the pro-Palestinian 2024 encampments at the event. Lexi Lonas Cochran, The Hill, 12 Feb. 2026 The clip, just over a minute long, shows officers shouting commands as a woman in a keffiyeh steps past a blue line painted on the property. Jasmine Baehr, FOXNews.com, 26 Oct. 2025 One prisoner, wrapped in a keffiyeh, flashed a victory sign before falling to his knees to kiss his mother’s feet. Shane Croucher, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Oct. 2025 On the red carpet at the Emmy Awards Sunday, actor Javier Bardem wore a keffiyeh, a black and white Palestinian scarf. Mandalit Del Barco, NPR, 19 Sep. 2025 See All Example Sentences for keffiyeh

Word History

Etymology

Arabic kūfīya, kaffīya, from al-Kufa Al-Kufa, town in Iraq

First Known Use

circa 1831, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of keffiyeh was circa 1831

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Cite this Entry

“Keffiyeh.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keffiyeh. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.

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