gaffe

English

Alternative forms

• gaff

Etymology

From French gaffe (“blunder”).

Pronunciation

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• IPA: /ɡæf/
• Rhymes: -æf

Noun

gaffe (plural gaffes)

1. A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public.

Synonyms

• (a mistake): blooper, blunder, boo-boo, defect, error, fault, faux pas, fluff, lapse, mistake, slip, stumble, thinko
• See also Wikisaurus:error

Translations

a foolish error, especially one made in public

Breton: fazienn f., fallvarch m. Bulgarian: гаф (bg) m., грешка (bg) f. Danish: fejltagelse (da) Dutch: blunder (nl) Finnish: möhläys (fi), munaus (fi), moka (fi) French: gaffe (fr) f.

Mandarin: 出醜 (cmn) Norwegian: brøler (no) m. Polish: gafa f. Portuguese: gafe (pt) Romanian: gafă (ro) f.

See also

• malapropism
• Freudian slip
• Bushism

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French

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɡaf/, SAMPA: /gaf/

Noun

gaffe f. (plural gaffes)

1. gaffe, blunder, goof-up (North American), cock-up (British)

See also

• faire gaffe

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German

Verb

gaffe

1. First-person singular present of gaffen.
2. Imperative singular of gaffen.
3. First-person singular subjunctive I of gaffen.
4. Third-person singular subjunctive I of gaffen.

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Italian

Noun

gaffe f.

1. Plural form of gaffa.

gaffe f. inv.

1. gaffe, blunder, boob