What does "skiff" mean?
A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.
Skiff
/skɪf/ name, noun, verb
name, noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.
- Grammar: skiff is listed as name, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: boat, canoe, cruiser, dinghies.
- Useful contrasts: large ship, large vessel, main vessel.
- Usage evidence: The fishing boat turned out to be a pirate skiff.
How to use "skiff"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "skiff" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "skiff" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "skiff" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "skiff" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "skiff" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "boat" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "skiff", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.
"Old Applegate, in the stern, just set and looked at me, and Lord James, amidship, waved both arms and kept hollering for help. I took a couple of everlasting big strokes and managed to grab hold of the skiff's rail, close to the stern."
- 2 A light, fleeting shower of rain or snow, or gust of wind, etc.
"A skiff of rain blew into the shed and the two men moved their chairs back."
- 3 An act of slightly pruning tea bushes, placing new leaves at a convenient height without removing much woody growth.
"In the fourth year, "light skiff" pruning removes just the uppermost growth."
- 4 any of various small boats propelled by oars or by sails or by a motor wordnet
- 5 Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.
"I went alone into a Shepherd's boat, A skiff that to a willow-tree was tied Within a rocky cave, its usual home […]"
Show 1 more definition
- 6 A (typically light) dusting of snow or ice (or dust, etc) (on ground, water, trees, etc).
"At sunrise there was a slight skiff of ice on some water in a bucket; […]"
Verb
- 1 To navigate in a skiff. transitive
- 2 To fall lightly or briefly, and lightly cover the ground (etc). dialectal
"We must be constantly alert to increased accident potentials in taxiing, takeoff, and landings on ice-glazed and snow-skiffed runways."
- 3 To cut (a tea bush) to maintain the plucking table.
"Skiffing is the lightest form of pruning involving as it does removal of a certain amount of growth above the previous pruning level."
Proper Noun
- 1 A surname.
Antonyms
large shiplarge vesselmain vesselocean liner
Example
"The fishing boat turned out to be a pirate skiff."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "skiff"?
Common synonyms include: boat, canoe, cruiser, dinghies, dinghy, ferry.
How do you use "skiff" in a sentence?
The fishing boat turned out to be a pirate skiff.
How do you pronounce "skiff"?
Pronounced /skɪf/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
From Middle English skif, from Middle French esquif, from Old Italian schifo (“small boat”), from Lombardic skif (“boat”), from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”). Doublet of ship.
Etymology 2
From Scots skiff (“light shower of rain or snow”), from skiff (“move lightly”); compare the derivative skiffle (whence English skiffle) and (English skift (“light dusting of snow”) from) Scots skift (“light shower of snow”), from skift (“move lightly”), perhaps related to shift/Old Norse skipta, or perhaps an onomatopoeic formation.