kerfuffle

noun

ker·​fuf·​fle kər-ˈfə-fəl 

plural kerfuffles

informal

: a disturbance or commotion typically caused by a dispute or conflict

In all the kerfuffle, nobody seemed to have noticed Harry, which suited him perfectly.

—J. K. Rowling

It's not the only school with dress code issues; almost every week there's a local story about some kerfuffle over what kids wear to school.

—Belinda Luscombe

Did you know?

The Evolution of Kerfuffle

Fuffle is an old Scottish verb that means “to muss” or “to throw into disarray”—in other words, to (literally) ruffle someone’s (figurative) feathers. The addition of car-, possibly from a Scottish Gaelic word meaning “wrong” or “awkward,” didn’t change its meaning much. In the 19th century carfuffle, with its variant curfuffle, became a noun, which in the 20th century was embraced by a broader population of English speakers and standardized to kerfuffle, referring to a more figurative feather-ruffling. There is some kerfuffle among language historians over how the altered spelling came to be favored. One theory holds that it might have been influenced by onomatopoeic words like kerplunk that imitate the sound of a falling object hitting a surface.

Synonyms

• ado
• alarums and excursions
• ballyhoo
• blather
• bluster
• bobbery
• bother
• bustle
• clatter
• clutter [chiefly dialect]
• coil
• commotion
• corroboree [Australian]
• disturbance
• do [chiefly dialect]
• foofaraw
• fun
• furor
• furore
• fuss
• helter-skelter
• hoo-ha
• hoo-hah
• hoopla
• hubble-bubble
• hubbub
• hullabaloo
• hurly
• hurly-burly
• hurricane
• hurry
• hurry-scurry
• hurry-skurry
• moil
• pandemonium
• pother
• row
• ruckus
• ruction
• rumpus
• shindy
• splore [Scottish]
• squall
• stew
• stir
• storm
• to-do
• tumult
• turmoil
• uproar
• welter
• whirl
• williwaw
• zoo

Examples of kerfuffle in a Sentence

predictably, the royal scandal caused quite a kerfuffle on Fleet Street

Recent Examples on the Web

Loading your audio article Carlsbad’s City Council agreed Tuesday to reconsider its policy for proclamations after a recent kerfuffle in which a representative of the city’s Republican women’s club accepted a proclamation for Women’s History Month. —Philip Diehl, Mercury News, 15 May 2025

Listen to this article Carlsbad’s City Council agreed Tuesday to reconsider its policy for proclamations after a recent kerfuffle in which a representative of the city’s Republican women’s club accepted a proclamation for Women’s History Month. —Phil Diehl, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 May 2025

This whole kerfuffle is centered around the April 27 CBS Sunday Mornings interview conducted by CBS’s Tony Dokoupil. —Jason P. Frank, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2025

This sprinkler kerfuffle could scupper the whole project. —Michael McShane, Forbes, 26 Feb. 2025

Word History

Etymology

alteration of carfuffle, from Scots car- (probably from Scottish Gaelic cearr wrong, awkward) + fuffle to become disheveled

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for kerfuffle

• duffel
• duffle
• muffle
• ruffle
• scuffle
• shuffle
• truffle
• reshuffle

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!