gaffe

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
also gaff (găf) pronunciation
n.
  1. A clumsy social error; a faux pas: "The excursion had in his eyes been a monstrous gaffe, a breach of sensibility and good taste" (Mary McCarthy).
  2. A blatant mistake or misjudgment.

[French, from Old French, hook. See gaff1.]



n

Definition: mistake, goof
Antonyms: correction

Top
pronunciation

IN BRIEF: n. - A socially awkward or tactless act.

Tutor's tip: He preferred fishing, because he knew how to handle a "gaff" (a hook used to land a fish), whereas he had bad memories of committing a "gaffe" (a social blunder) when spending time with others.

LearnThatWord.com is a free vocabulary and spelling program where you only pay for results!

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'gaffe'

Top
Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to gaffe, see:

Top

Dansk (Danish)
n. - begå en dumhed

Nederlands (Dutch)
(sociale) blunder

Français (French)
n. - bévue, faux-pas, gaffe

Deutsch (German)
n. - Fauxpas, Schnitzer

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - γκάφα, ατόπημα

Italiano (Italian)
gaffe, cantonata, topica

Português (Portuguese)
n. - gafe (f)

Русский (Russian)
оплошность, ложный шаг

Español (Spanish)
n. - metedura de pata, patinazo, patochada

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - tabbe

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
过失, 失态, 出丑

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 過失, 失態, 出醜

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 실수

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 失敗, へま

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) غلطه في السلوك الاجتماعي‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮טעות, משגה גס, התחלקות, דיבור/מעשה שלא במקומו‬


Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Mentioned in

drop a brick (Idiom)
Gaff (family name)