kerfuffle
Americannoun
noun
verb
Etymology
Origin of kerfuffle
First recorded in 1945–50; from Scots curfuffle, from cur- (from Scottish Gaelic car “a turn,” from Old Irish cor ) + fuffle “to disorder, confuse” (of imitative origin)
Explanation
A kerfuffle is some kind of commotion, controversy, or fuss. If you read about a scandal in a newspaper, it could be described as a kerfuffle. Kerfuffle is a humorous-sounding word for a mostly non-humorous situation: some kind of disturbance, scandal or mess. However, a kerfuffle usually isn't 100% serious. People talking loudly in public could be making a kerfuffle. If a politician says something embarrassing by accident, it could cause a kerfuffle. Often, people use this word when they think people are making too big a deal of something, as in "What's the kerfuffle all about?"
Vocabulary lists containing kerfuffle
Harry Potter and the Cursed Child
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The Unteachables
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Paper Towns
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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.
Carr said the review stemmed from a probe into whether the network’s diversity programs were discriminatory and that they had had nothing to do with the latest Kimmel kerfuffle.
From MarketWatch • May 19, 2026
The move was likely in the works before the latest kerfuffle over Kimmel, who is under fire for a comedic bit that satirized the annual Washington gala that Trump attended for the first time.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 28, 2026
Note, for instance, how this kerfuffle is goading his critics into defending the indefensible.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 15, 2026
Instead, Beijing has decided to turn a modest kerfuffle into a major confrontation.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 17, 2025
He pauses, and there’s a kerfuffle in the darkness back there, and I wonder if he has some physical strategy for checking the fullness of his bladder.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
