Synonyms of chaff

chaff 1 of 3

noun (1)

ˈchaf 

as in debris

discarded or useless material

there's a lot of chaff in this book, and the reader should be on the alert for it

Synonyms & Similar Words

• debris
• garbage
• dust
• trash
• rubbish
• junk
• rubble
• dross
• litter
• truck
• sewage
• waste
• offal
• effluvia
• deadwood
• drek
• riffraff
• refuse
• effluvium
• wreckage
• dreck
• scrap
• raffle
• lumber
• offscouring
• detritus
• wash
• spilth
• ruins
• crud
• swill
• straw
• trumpery
• flotsam
• remains
• dump
• discard
• jetsam
• scrap heap
• slop
• cull
• nothing
• reject
• odds and ends
• castoff
• throwaway
• two bits
• hand-me-down

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• pearl
• treasure
• prize
• plum
• catch
• gem
• trove
• jewel
• treasure trove
• find
• goodie
• goody
• valuable
• booty
• salvage

chaff

2 of 3

noun (2)

as in laugh

good-natured teasing or exchanging of clever remarks

I got no end of chaff about my accent when I was in the military

Synonyms & Similar Words

• laugh
• joke
• banter
• badinage
• repartee
• chatter
• raillery
• persiflage
• jesting
• humor
• ribbing
• humorousness
• give-and-take
• joshing
• wit
• barb
• gossip
• gag
• nothings
• witticism
• quip
• kidding
• pleasantry
• sally
• wisecrack
• richness
• gambit
• backchat
• funniness
• dig
• facetiousness
• mocking
• fooling
• wordplay
• crack
• jest
• small talk
• ridiculing
• waggery
• razzing
• chitchat
• drollness
• hilariousness

chaff

3 of 3

verb

1

as in to tease

to make fun of in a good-natured way

chaffed her about the brightly colored shirt she had received as a gift

Synonyms & Similar Words

• tease
• kid
• joke
• roast
• jive
• rib
• razz
• josh
• goof on
• banter
• fool
• take the mickey out of
• rally
• ride
• fun
• quip
• string along
• jest
• jolly
• wisecrack
• jape
• yuck
• gag
• yuk

2

as in to joke

to make jokes

a coworker who likes to chaff at others' expense, and this often results in hurt feelings

Synonyms & Similar Words

• joke
• fun
• fool
• banter
• quip
• jive
• jest
• rag
• yuck
• jolly
• jape
• ridicule
• kid
• haze
• yuk
• wisecrack
• gag
• crack wise
• jibe
• jeer
• tease
• josh
• amuse
• rib
• gibe
• mock
• parody
• entertain
• caricature
• satirize
• razz
• lampoon
• rally
• divert

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of chaff

Noun

Station execs didn’t think much of horror hosts and B-movie chaff. —Christopher Borrelli, Chicago Tribune, 25 Oct. 2024

The challenge is in discerning the wheat from the chaff. —Lance Eliot, Forbes, 2 Oct. 2024

This dynamic—in which markets lowball ambitious movies, and streaming platforms ply audiences with algorithmic chaff—leaves little room for both enthusiasm and good-faith challenges. —Elena Saavedra Buckley, The New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2024

Chaff flower will be used instead of Japanese chaff flower to refer to Achyranthese japonica, an invasive floodplain plant not known to be present in Michigan. —Kylie Martin, Detroit Free Press, 30 July 2024