gaffe

noun

ˈgaf 

1

: a social or diplomatic blunder

committed an embarrassing gaffe when he mispronounced her name

2

: a noticeable mistake

Kwan did not fall today, as she had in Friday's short program, a gaffe that left her in fourth place.

—Christopher Clarey

Synonyms

• familiarity
• faux pas
• gaff
• impropriety
• indiscretion
• solecism

Examples of gaffe in a Sentence

He realized that he had committed an awful gaffe when he mispronounced her name.

committed a huge gaffe when she started drinking from the finger bowl

Recent Examples on the Web

The Dodgers, of course, rallied from a 5-0 deficit when the Yankees suffered an epic meltdown in the top of the fifth, committing two physical errors and one mental gaffe that allowed the Dodgers to score five unearned runs in an eventual 7-6 series-clinching win. —Mike Digiovanna, Los Angeles Times, 13 Dec. 2024

But the gaffes, misreads and contradictions by the 13-person committee were frequent and severe. —Jon Wilner, The Mercury News, 8 Dec. 2024

Pinning the loss solely on Mrázek would be foolish, given the turnovers and defensive gaffes by the Blackhawks in allowing response goals within three minutes of all three of their own power-play goals. —Mark Lazerus, The Athletic, 2 Dec. 2024

Del Mar residents remain unhappy with plan for train tunnel Garden Mastery: Hops’ tiny green cone blossoms into beer Verbal gaffe or sign of trouble? —San Diego Union-Tribune, 25 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French, probably a sense development of gaffe gaff entry 1

First Known Use

1909, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

gaffe

noun

ˈgaf 

: a noticeable mistake especially of manners