1
as in mistake
a socially improper or unsuitable act or remark
you can expect to make some amusing gaffs until you get more familiar with the language
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in blunder
an unintentional departure from truth or accuracy
double-check the new writer's grammar, as it's typically riddled with gaffs
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in to trick
to cause to believe what is untrue
a sleazy schemer who gaffed gullible people into thinking they could get rich with a money-making opportunity
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to cheat
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
the operators of the traveling carnival had gaffed patrons with a variety of time-honored ruses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of gaff
Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 7 Aug. 2024
Dana Taylor: How can people determine the difference between just a normal gaff and when there's actually something wrong?
—Dana Taylor, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
Sunday's cartoons - airline safety, teleprompter gaffs, and more
Newsletter sign up
By The Week US
published April 28, 2024
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber.
—The Week Us, theweek, 28 Apr. 2024
Despite the gaff, Redmaye is still hoping to sneak his son and daughter into the August Wilson Theatre in New York City to see his opening number.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 13 May 2024
See All Example Sentences for gaff
Noun
Some of the gear commonly used for technical climbing, like gaffs—steel spikes worn on the legs for added grip on the tree trunk when cutting branches—can also cause inadvertent damage to the tallest trees.
—Jayme Moye, Outside Online, 7 Aug. 2024
Dana Taylor: How can people determine the difference between just a normal gaff and when there's actually something wrong?
—Dana Taylor, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
Sunday's cartoons - airline safety, teleprompter gaffs, and more
Newsletter sign up
By The Week US
published April 28, 2024
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber.
—The Week Us, theweek, 28 Apr. 2024
Despite the gaff, Redmaye is still hoping to sneak his son and daughter into the August Wilson Theatre in New York City to see his opening number.
—Dave Quinn, Peoplemag, 13 May 2024
See All Example Sentences for gaff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gaff
Noun
-
Now in the context of the very obvious dropping of moral guardrails around international relations, other countries will be less bound by a sense of world order, emboldened by an arms race, and will start to take risks and make mistakes.—
Mike O'Sullivan,
Forbes.com,
9 May 2025
-
Lifton remembers telling others in the rare earths industry this would be a mistake.—
Mark Dent,
HubSpot,
9 May 2025
Noun
-
All the evidence points to various blunders, assumptions, policies, choices and unlucky circumstances that led to the tragedy.—
The Know,
Denver Post,
30 Apr. 2025
-
Be equipped to answer this when delivering bad news by understanding the root cause of the blunder.—
Kate Wieczorek,
Forbes.com,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The latest attacks follow recent patterns, mimicking Google’s own support to trick users into giving up credentials.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
4 May 2025
-
Elsewhere in the film, the Irish vampire Remmick, pursued by Choctaw vampire hunters, tricks his way into the protection of a pair of Klan members living near Clarksdale and turns them into creatures of the night.—
Adam Serwer,
The Atlantic,
2 May 2025
Verb
-
Disgruntled attendees, many of them authors, said they felt cheated by event organizers, who failed to deliver on most, if not all fronts.—
Amaris Encinas,
USA Today,
7 May 2025
-
In their stories about others, 92% chronicled how misfortune befell cheating partners, indebted friends, bullies and lousy coworkers.—
Kameryn Griesser,
CNN Money,
1 May 2025
Noun
-
Garcia, who denies gang membership, had an immigration court order protecting him from deportation, which the administration acknowledged was an administrative error.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
15 May 2025
-
Betts grounded into a fielder’s choice and reached via an error on a should-have-been 6-3 putout.—
Benjamin Royer,
Los Angeles Times,
14 May 2025
Verb
-
Don’t let the name fool you: Apple TV+’s new science-fiction series Murderbot isn’t actually about a rampaging robot killing everything in sight, though Alexander Skarsgard’s SecUnit certainly ponders the idea from time to time.—
Erik Kain,
Forbes.com,
12 May 2025
-
One common jailbreak involved fooling ChatGPT by asking it to role-play as a different AI—one that had no rules and was allowed to write phishing e-mails.—
Deni Ellis Béchard,
Scientific American,
7 May 2025
Verb
-
Suarez is getting stung here and there, but the last two rounds the challenger is landing a bit cleaner.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes.com,
10 May 2025
-
Additionally, getting stung by an Asian needle ant can be dangerous due to the life-threatening anaphylaxis that a sting can trigger.—
Lauren Thomann,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 May 2025
Noun
-
Countless video call gaffes were lost to history during the coronavirus pandemic.—
Katherine Schulten,
New York Times,
29 Apr. 2025
-
As for their goalie Linus Ullmark, weird goalie gaffe aside, his 21 saves were sufficient for the Senators’ win.—
Julian McKenzie,
The Athletic,
16 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Gaff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gaff. Accessed 20 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share