Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Synonyms

chaff

1 American  
[chaf, chahf] / tʃæf, tʃɑf /

noun

  1. the husks of grains and grasses that are separated during threshing.

  2. straw cut up for fodder.

  3. worthless matter; refuse.

  4. the membranous, usually dry, brittle bracts of the flowers of certain plants.

  5. Also called windowMilitary. strips of metal foil dropped by an aircraft to confuse enemy radar by creating false blips.


chaff 2 American  
[chaf, chahf] / tʃæf, tʃɑf /

verb (used with or without object)

  1. to mock, tease, or jest in a good-natured way; banter.

    She chaffed him for working late. They joked and chaffed with each other.


noun

  1. good-natured ridicule or teasing; raillery.

chaff 1 British  
/ tʃɑːf /

noun

  1. the mass of husks, etc, separated from the seeds during threshing

  2. finely cut straw and hay used to feed cattle

  3. something of little worth; rubbish (esp in the phrase separate the wheat from the chaff )

  4. the dry membranous bracts enclosing the flowers of certain composite plants

  5. thin strips of metallic foil released into the earth's atmosphere to confuse radar signals and prevent detection

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

chaff 2 British  
/ tʃɑːf /

noun

  1. light-hearted teasing or joking; banter

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

  1. to tease good-naturedly; banter

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • chaffer noun
  • chaffingly adverb
  • chaffless adjective
  • chafflike adjective
  • chaffy adjective
  • unchaffed adjective
  • unchaffing adjective

Etymology

Origin of chaff1

before 1000; Middle English chaf, Old English ceaf; cognate with Middle Low German, Dutch kaf

Origin of chaff2

First recorded in 1640–50; perhaps from chaff 1

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He also chaffed at the Trump administration’s pursuit of what officials called the Abraham Accords — deals with Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Sudan and Morocco that normalized relations with Israel but left out the Palestinians.

From Seattle Times

But sifting the wheat from the chaff can be hard with so many options, and harder still if you don’t know what to look for in the bounties of different national cinemas and film industries.

From New York Times

A lot of chaff would come with the wheat, but I’d know I hadn’t lost anything.

From Washington Post

The Turkish defence ministry said the four Greek F-16s approached the Cesme on Monday and one dropped a chaff flare two nautical miles from the vessel.

From Reuters

I asked Langer what sage bit of wisdom she had for readers who consume a lot of nutrition information and want to be able to separate the wheat from the chaff.

From Seattle Times