daffy

adjective

daf·​fy ˈda-fē 

daffier; daffiest

: silly or strange often in a way that is funny

a daffy comedy/character

her daffy charm

As a hotshot physician stranded in the daffy small town of Grady, S.C., Michael J. Fox performs with his usual Swiss-watch timing.

—Owen Gleiberman

But the most successful of her paintings assuage all doubts. They are congeries of daffy cartoonish shapes in stretched canvas or jigsawed wood, thickly painted in rich, loud, chafing colors and arrayed on the wall in roughly rectangular layouts.

—Peter Schjeldahl

daffily

ˈda-fə-lē 

adverb

a daffily entertaining video

Synonyms

• balmy
• barmy [chiefly British]
• bats
• batty
• bedlam
• bonkers
• brainsick
• bughouse [slang]
• certifiable
• crackbrained
• cracked
• crackers
• crackpot
• cranky [dialect]
• crazed
• crazy
• cuckoo
• daft
• demented
• deranged
• fruity [slang]
• gaga
• haywire
• insane
• kooky
• kookie
• loco [slang]
• loony
• looney
• loony tunes
• looney tunes
• lunatic
• mad
• maniacal
• maniac
• mental
• meshuga
• meshugge
• meshugah
• meshuggah
• moonstruck
• non compos mentis
• nuts
• nutty
• psycho
• psychotic
• scatty [chiefly British]
• screwy
• unbalanced
• unhinged
• unsound
• wacko
• whacko
• wacky
• whacky
• wud [chiefly Scottish]

Examples of daffy in a Sentence

The actress is starring in a daffy new comedy this summer.

The book is filled with daffy characters.

Recent Examples on the Web

His performance as daffy himbo Chad Feldheimer in the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading (2008), for example, is an essential entry in his oeuvre. —Randall Colburn, EW.com, 3 May 2025

My one caveat on what is a highly entertaining and most genial evening of daffy, escapist Broadway, is that some of it feels a bit much, especially movement- and new orchestrations-wise. —Chris Jones, New York Daily News, 24 Apr. 2025

At one party, the camera catches Elizabeth’s slightly daffy mother (Brenda Blethyn) somewhat tipsily walking through the crowd while eating a bowl of dessert. —Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 18 Apr. 2025

In his first film, Kilmer starred as rockabilly teen idol Nick Rivers in the daffy spy spoof Top Secret! —Mike Barnes, HollywoodReporter, 3 Sep. 2019

Word History

Etymology

obsolete English daff, noun, fool

First Known Use

circa 1884, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for daffy

• jaffe
• taffy
• holography
• telegraphy

Kids Definition

daffy

adjective

daf·​fy ˈdaf-ē 

daffier; daffiest

: silly, odd, or peculiar usually in an amusing way

a daffy spy story

also : attracted to or fascinated with

daffy over cars

daffy about stamp collecting