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

The characters in Slow Horses, Lamb among them, can sometimes feel like daffy sitcom archetypes that have been air-dropped into a Michael Bay movie. —Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 4 Sep. 2024

There’s a solid stretch of episodes late in the season, but most of what comes before is pleasantly daffy yet forgettable. —Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 23 July 2024

Johansson, 39, thought Jost was a natural fit for the role of a daffy senator. —Patrick Ryan, USA TODAY, 13 July 2024

Nasim Pedrad shakes the cobwebs off the movie in a very funny sequence as a daffy real estate agent, giving everyone a lot to play against. —Jordan Hoffman, EW.com, 2 July 2024

Word History

Etymology

obsolete English daff, noun, fool

First Known Use

circa 1884, in the meaning defined above

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