noun ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public; a social blunder; a breach of etiquette.

   "make a gaffe"

2. 2
   a socially awkward or tactless act wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

faux passlipsolecismaberrationanachronismbarbarism

Example

More examples

"He committed a gaffe when he asked whether she was pregnant."

Etymology

From French gaffe (“blunder”). Doublet of gaff.

Related phrases

Kinsley gaffefreudian slip

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.