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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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2
as in to joke
to make jokes
a coworker who likes to chaff at others' expense, and this often results in hurt feelings
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of chaff
Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
These preambles separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of Maron’s fans, though, which is the wheat and which is the chaff in skipping in the intros versus listening to them remains to be seen.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 2 June 2025
In other words, nearly nine-tenths of all primetime impressions were chaff.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 May 2025
What’s more, cramming the same number of pixels into a much smaller area introduces other challenges that can generate technical errors, such as noise (electronic chaff) and blooming (light spilling off the sides of the pixels), which in turn lead to image degradation.
—Sally Wiener Grotta, IEEE Spectrum, 19 Apr. 2012
See All Example Sentences for chaff
Noun
Visitors can see the operations of the thresher and the simple mechanics used to separate grain from chaff.
—Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
These preambles separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of Maron’s fans, though, which is the wheat and which is the chaff in skipping in the intros versus listening to them remains to be seen.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 2 June 2025
In other words, nearly nine-tenths of all primetime impressions were chaff.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 May 2025
What’s more, cramming the same number of pixels into a much smaller area introduces other challenges that can generate technical errors, such as noise (electronic chaff) and blooming (light spilling off the sides of the pixels), which in turn lead to image degradation.
—Sally Wiener Grotta, IEEE Spectrum, 19 Apr. 2012
See All Example Sentences for chaff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chaff
Verb
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Since then, Phlur has debuted another new body mist, Cashmere Skin, and teased a new Afterglow Eau de Parfum to launch before the end of the year.—
Noor Lobad,
Footwear News,
11 Nov. 2025
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Said Stanton, who wrote the screenplay for the original pic and won Animated Feature Oscars for directing Finding Nemo and Wall-E, and Harris did tease more in today’s press release announcing the trailer.—
Patrick Hipes,
Deadline,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Doughnuts and coffees in hand, some of them joked about seeing each other look happy for the first time in weeks.—
Elliott Wenzler,
Denver Post,
8 Nov. 2025
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The director playfully joked not to ask him what Camazotz is, as many views and fans have started theorizing how that name could tie into the show.—
Dessi Gomez,
Deadline,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Rates for the winter journey to the North Pole start at approximately $42 for adults (and kids ages 12 and over) and just over $31 for children ages two to 11.—
Evie Carrick,
Travel + Leisure,
7 Nov. 2025
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Just kidding - but honestly not sold on him being the best player on a championship caliber team.—
The Athletic NBA Staff,
New York Times,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Acorn squash can be baked, roasted, or steamed for a tasty side dish.—
Jillian Kubala,
Health,
6 Nov. 2025
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The skewers of meat brushed with soy and roasted over coals on Belém’s streets arrived with Japanese migration to the region from the 1930s onward.—
Michael Snyder,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The officials were fooled, ruling it incomplete.—
The Athletic College Football Staff,
New York Times,
9 Nov. 2025
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Don’t let the domesticity fool you, however.—
Katie Rife,
Vulture,
9 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chaff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chaff. Accessed 29 Nov. 2025.
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