as in quarrel
an often noisy or angry expression of differing opinions
got into a little tiff about what color sheets to buy for their bed
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
as in to bicker
to express different opinions about something often angrily
like any couple, they occasionally tiff, but it's never anything serious
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of tiff
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 3 Dec. 2025
When his father became king in 2015, Prince Mohammed was portrayed as impulsive — launching a war in Yemen, dragging the country into tiffs with Canada and Germany, and famously cracking down on fellow princes and billionaires.
—Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 24 Nov. 2025
Returning home from some opening or other one evening, Marta (Rohrwacher) and her partner Antonio (Elio Germano) get into an apparently familiar argument — more of a tiff really — that for some reason this time escalates towards a different end, with Antonio moving out.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 13 Oct. 2025
Thinking back to her 12-show stint as an opener for *NSYNC during 2001’s PopOdyssey tour, Gibson recalled getting into a tiff with the boy band’s management team about wanting to use her own piano for her set.
—Mark Gray, People.com, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiff
Noun
On this week’s New Heights, Clooney — who’s been married to Amal since 2014 and shares two twin children with her — went on to share his outlook on spousal tiffs with the Kelce brothers.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 3 Dec. 2025
When his father became king in 2015, Prince Mohammed was portrayed as impulsive — launching a war in Yemen, dragging the country into tiffs with Canada and Germany, and famously cracking down on fellow princes and billionaires.
—Mohammed Sergie, semafor.com, 24 Nov. 2025
Returning home from some opening or other one evening, Marta (Rohrwacher) and her partner Antonio (Elio Germano) get into an apparently familiar argument — more of a tiff really — that for some reason this time escalates towards a different end, with Antonio moving out.
—Jessica Kiang, Variety, 13 Oct. 2025
Thinking back to her 12-show stint as an opener for *NSYNC during 2001’s PopOdyssey tour, Gibson recalled getting into a tiff with the boy band’s management team about wanting to use her own piano for her set.
—Mark Gray, People.com, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for tiff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for tiff
Noun
-
The Department of Defense’s quarrel with the Anthropic began after the company refused to back down over contractual guardrails around the use of its Claude AI model in autonomous weapons and mass surveillance.—
Devan Cole,
CNN Money,
26 Mar. 2026
-
My quarrel is not with the science of LNG itself.—
Joel McPherson,
The Orlando Sentinel,
25 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Jenna is frustrated at his lack of seriousness, and Daisy wishes her department would stop bickering for once.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Against the backdrop of an island honeymoon, the two men clash and bicker before gradually uncovering an unexpected bond in this emotional dramedy.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
25 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Brockton man charged after allegedly shooting at officers Jailson Andrade, 44, faces several charges after allegedly firing at Brockton Police officers during an altercation early Sunday morning, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office.—
Colleen Cronin,
Boston Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
-
The pair have been in physical altercations in the past, including Manning's 2012 arrest for allegedly punching, scratching, kicking and choking Hartman – whom media outlets have referred to as Manning's former make-up artist and assistant – and slamming her head against the floor and wall.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Callie and Arizona: Another couple spatting over kids.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Mulroney, Ackerman, Snow, and Newman turn this story of spatting WAGS into an explosive, addictive watch.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
11 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
The high-profile dispute has, over the past year and a half, ensnared several other celebrities in Lively and Baldoni's orbit as the discovery process in their case exposed the stars' private communications.—
KiMi Robinson,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Owens had expressed frustrations to her mother about an ongoing dispute with her neighbor Susan Lorincz that dated back to February 2022.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
3 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
They get captured by Hungarian gangsters and have to fight (and kill) their way out of an inn run by a shady former dance prodigy (Uma Thurman).—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
4 Apr. 2026
-
Nissie Cadette took the mic and spoke about what an influence Metayer had been on her life, fighting through tears at every word.—
Devoun Cetoute,
Miami Herald,
4 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Fundraising for the project through private donations also drew controversy.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The controversy surrounding the North Natomas micro-community comes amid a heated re-election campaign for Councilmember Lisa Kaplan, who represents the area.—
Ishani Desai,
Sacbee.com,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Prosecutors argue that Duckett was a monster in disguise who abused the badge and brutally raped and killed Teresa before dumping her body in a lake.—
Amanda Lee Myers,
USA Today,
31 Mar. 2026
-
The reversal comes after Democratic Attorney General Rob Bonta and the UCLA Voting Rights Project launched legal challenges last week, arguing the sheriff has no authority over election materials.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Tiff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/tiff. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
