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Spend hundreds of millions; talk endlessly about issues; present 12-point plans for education, the economy, and the environment. But in the end, the election of our next president can turn on a gaffe.
Jack Germond

Meaning of "gaffe" in the English dictionary

Dictionary
DICTIONARY
section

ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD GAFFE

From French.
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Etymology is the study of the origin of words and their changes in structure and significance.
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PRONUNCIATION OF GAFFE

gaffe  [ɡæf] play
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GRAMMATICAL CATEGORY OF GAFFE

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation
Gaffe is a noun.
A noun is a type of word the meaning of which determines reality. Nouns provide the names for all things: people, objects, sensations, feelings, etc.

WHAT DOES GAFFE MEAN IN ENGLISH?

gaffe

Error

The word error entails different meanings and usages relative to how it is conceptually applied. The concrete meaning of the Latin word "error" is "wandering" or "straying". Unlike an illusion, an error or a mistake can sometimes be dispelled through knowledge. For example, a person who uses too much of an ingredient in a recipe and has a failed product can learn the right amount to use and avoid repeating the mistake. However, some errors can occur even when individuals have the required knowledge to perform a task correctly. Examples include forgetting to collect change after buying chocolate from a vending machine, forgetting the original document after making photocopies, and forgetting to turn the gas off after cooking a meal. Some errors occur when an individual is distracted by something else.

Definition of gaffe in the English dictionary

The definition of gaffe in the dictionary is a social blunder, esp a tactless remark.

WORDS THAT BEGIN LIKE GAFFE

gaelicise
gaelicism
Gaeltacht
gaff
gaff-rigged
gaff-topsail
gaffer
gaffer tape
gaffsail
gag
gag law
gag resolution
gag rule
gag-bit
gaga
gagaku
Gagarin
Gagauzi
gage
gageable

WORDS THAT END LIKE GAFFE

agraffe
Aycliffe
bouffe
coiffe
giraffe
griffe
Luftwaffe
Northcliffe
O´Keeffe
opere buffe
piaffe
pouffe
Radcliffe
ruffe
Sutcliffe
Tartuffe
Wickliffe
Wicliffe
Wycliffe

Synonyms and antonyms of gaffe in the English dictionary of synonyms

SYNONYMS

SYNONYMS OF «GAFFE»

The following words have a similar or identical meaning as «gaffe» and belong to the same grammatical category.
synonyms of gaffe

Translation of «gaffe» into 25 languages

TRANSLATOR
online translator

TRANSLATION OF GAFFE

Find out the translation of gaffe to 25 languages with our English multilingual translator.
The translations of gaffe from English to other languages presented in this section have been obtained through automatic statistical translation; where the essential translation unit is the word «gaffe» in English.

Translator English - Chinese

失态
1,325 millions of speakers

Translator English - Spanish

gaffe
570 millions of speakers

English

gaffe
510 millions of speakers

Translator English - Hindi

चूक
380 millions of speakers
ar

Translator English - Arabic

زلة
280 millions of speakers

Translator English - Russian

ляп
278 millions of speakers

Translator English - Portuguese

gaffe
270 millions of speakers

Translator English - Bengali

অসমীচীন কাজ
260 millions of speakers

Translator English - French

gaffe
220 millions of speakers

Translator English - Malay

Gaffe
190 millions of speakers

Translator English - German

Fauxpas
180 millions of speakers

Translator English - Japanese

失言
130 millions of speakers

Translator English - Korean

과실
85 millions of speakers

Translator English - Javanese

Gaffe
85 millions of speakers
vi

Translator English - Vietnamese

điều lầm lôi
80 millions of speakers

Translator English - Tamil

ஆய்ந்தறியாமல்
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Marathi

गोंधळ
75 millions of speakers

Translator English - Turkish

gaf
70 millions of speakers

Translator English - Italian

gaffe
65 millions of speakers

Translator English - Polish

gafa
50 millions of speakers

Translator English - Ukrainian

ляп
40 millions of speakers

Translator English - Romanian

gafă
30 millions of speakers
el

Translator English - Greek

γκάφα
15 millions of speakers
af

Translator English - Afrikaans

flater
14 millions of speakers
sv

Translator English - Swedish

tabbe
10 millions of speakers
no

Translator English - Norwegian

gaffe
5 millions of speakers

Trends of use of gaffe

TRENDS

TENDENCIES OF USE OF THE TERM «GAFFE»

The term «gaffe» is quite widely used and occupies the 34.378 position in our list of most widely used terms in the English dictionary.
0
100%
FREQUENCY
Quite widely used
84
/100
The map shown above gives the frequency of use of the term «gaffe» in the different countries.
Principal search tendencies and common uses of gaffe
List of principal searches undertaken by users to access our English online dictionary and most widely used expressions with the word «gaffe».

FREQUENCY OF USE OF THE TERM «GAFFE» OVER TIME

The graph expresses the annual evolution of the frequency of use of the word «gaffe» during the past 500 years. Its implementation is based on analysing how often the term «gaffe» appears in digitalised printed sources in English between the year 1500 and the present day.

Examples of use in the English literature, quotes and news about gaffe

EXAMPLES

2 QUOTES WITH «GAFFE»

Famous quotes and sentences with the word gaffe.
1
Jack Germond
Spend hundreds of millions; talk endlessly about issues; present 12-point plans for education, the economy, and the environment. But in the end, the election of our next president can turn on a gaffe.
2
Michael Kinsley
A gaffe is when a politician tells the truth.

10 ENGLISH BOOKS RELATING TO «GAFFE»

Discover the use of gaffe in the following bibliographical selection. Books relating to gaffe and brief extracts from same to provide context of its use in English literature.
1
Mind the Gaffe!: A Troubleshooter's Guide to English Style ...
A linguist with attitude, R. L. Trask was a steadfast soldier in the never-ending War of Words, fighting the good fight for standard written English.
R. L. Trask, 2006
2
Gaffe/Stutter
This is not an analogy, or a product of the imagination, Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari would write in A Thousand Plateaus, but a composition of speeds and affects on the plane of consistency: a plan(e), a program, or rather a diagram, a ...
Whitney Anne Trettien, 2013
3
Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Court of ...
The parties themselves have given a practical construction to the arrangement, which accords with these views, for long after the maturity of these acceptances ( they being unpaid and the acceptors insolvent), Gaffe & Cutter paid the defendant ...
New York (State). Court of Appeals, 1867
4
The Everyday Language of White Racism
The Trent Lott firestorm illustrates the usefulness of the “gaffe” label for the project of White racism. Once the label is applied, the intricate personalist discourse of motives illustrated here takes over as a form of common sense, and makes ...
Jane H. Hill, 2011
5
Garner's Modern American Usage
Gallic, though formerly denoting a Frenchman, is not used as a noun in modern English. gaffe; gaff, n. Gaffe = (1) a blunder in etiquette; faux pas; or (2) a blatant error. Gaff (a rarer word) = (1) a long pole with a metal hook used in fishing; (2) a  ...
Bryan Garner, 2009
6
Relativism and the Social Sciences
The. gaffe. -avoiding. animal. or. A. Bundle. of. Hypotheses. There are a number of notions of rational behaviour. The most important, and also most readily intelligible, is Zweckrationalitdt. Conduct is rational if it is optimally effective in attaining ...
Ernest Gellner, 1987
7
Mind the Gaffe: The Penguin Guide to Common Errors in English
Trask's wonderfully readable and authoritative book adjudicates on hundreds of contentious issues from politically correct language to whether to write 'napkin' or 'serviette'.
R L Trask, 2003
8
The Vocabulary Diet
SYNONYM MATCHING: On the left are words from this unit. Draw a line to the word on the right with the closest meaning. 1) choppy 2) ghastly 3) gaffe 4) madcap 5) say a) error b) wacky c) horrifying d) voice e) uneven SENTENCE BUILDING: ...
David DeRocco, 2001
9
Eurekas and Euphorias: The Oxford Book of Scientific Anecdotes
116. The. maestro's. gaffe. Erwin Schrödinger (1887–1961) was hailed as a mathematical and scientific genius from the beginning of his student years in Vienna. He was one of the small band of theoretical physicists who wrought a revolution ...
Walter Gratzer, 2002
10
Hockey For Dummies
gaffe. Consider a 1974 game that our very own JD played with the St. Louis Blues. “One of the opposing forwards, a player named Jerry Korab, wristed the puck down the ice from his own defensive zone, and I went over to stop it,” the fearless ...
John Davidson, John Steinbreder, 2011

10 NEWS ITEMS WHICH INCLUDE THE TERM «GAFFE»

Find out what the national and international press are talking about and how the term gaffe is used in the context of the following news items.
1
Pan Am officials spent $1.4 million to cover up flooring gaffe
Pan Am Games planners worried for months that the unfinished concrete floors in the athletes' village that is now housing international ... «Toronto Star, Jul 15»
2
Eligibility gaffe ends Rio dream for NZ
Deklan Wynne is reportedly the player at the centre of an eligibility breach that may have cost New Zealand a place at the 2016 Olympic Games ... «SBS - The World Game, Jul 15»
3
On Trump's gaffe, GOP protests too much
In 2006, then-Arizona state Sen. Russell Pearce advocated the return of a 1954 program for the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants ... «Columbia Daily Tribune, Jul 15»
4
Brad Keselowski seeking redemption for bloody Victory Lane gaffe
Since the Sprint Cup Series first competed at the 1.5-mile track four years ago, Keselowski has won two of four races -- including last year's ... «FOXSports.com, Jul 15»
5
Mind the gaffe: Jeb Bush's cautionary tale
The occasional verbal gaffe comes with the territory when campaigning for president. Romney, the Republican presidential nominee in 2012, ... «Washington Examiner, Jul 15»
6
Prince Philip F word outburst: Watch moment impatient Duke of …
This is the moment Prince Philip explodes with an apparent X-rated gaffe as he posed for a photocall. The Duke of Edinburgh was waiting for ... «Mirror.co.uk, Jul 15»
7
Chessington World of Adventures issues apology for 7/7 silence gaffe
Chessington World of Adventures, in Kingston-upon-Thames, made the gaffe in response to a complaint on Twitter that the park had failed to ... «Evening Standard, Jul 15»
8
SNP MP makes 'depravity' gaffe in maiden speech
SNP MP makes 'depravity' gaffe in maiden speech ... In 2010, David Morris made a similar gaffe in his maiden speech: 'Tourism in this country ... «Spectator.co.uk, Jul 15»
9
Sport: Games organisers apologise for medals gaffe
Pacific Games organisers have apologised for an embarrassing gaffe in which countries were awarded medals in team shooting despite the ... «Radio New Zealand, Jul 15»
10
OP STACK: you tell gaffe-prone Minister what you think about his 'no …
READERS have reacted with anger and dismay after ports and shipping minister Robert Goodwill said local traffic had "kept flowing" during the ... «Folkestone Herald, Jul 15»

REFERENCE
« EDUCALINGO. Gaffe [online]. Available <https://educalingo.com/en/dic-en/gaffe>. Apr 2024 ».
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