gaffe

[gaf]

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noun

a social blunder; faux pas.

Origin of gaffe

1905–10; < French: blunder, probably special use of gaffe gaff¹

Can be confusedgaff gaffe

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for gaffe

indiscretion, impropriety, blooper, blunder, solecism, indecorum, slip, boner, howler, boo-boo

Examples from the Web for gaffe

Contemporary Examples of gaffe

Christopher Dickey joins CNN International to discuss Biden's Erdogan gaffe and how it will affect Turkey's role in fighting ISIS.
Biden's Misstep Has Implications For Turkish Policy
Christopher Dickey
October 6, 2014
The moment seems to be a familiar breed of Internet gaffe when a eager but inept social media staffer makes a blunder.
RNC Chair Tweets Picture Of Maryland's Democratic Governor
Ben Jacobs
May 31, 2014
“I may not have been the clearest in my statements, obviously,” she said of her “busy” gaffe.
The 'RedState Women' Wooing Scheme
Michelle Cottle
April 2, 2014
It's not an insult to farmers (though could be construed as one to Grassley); it's just a gaffe.
Picking Crops And Picking Judges
Ben Jacobs
March 25, 2014
Clearly, Menzel isn't wasting time complaining about Travolta's gaffe.
John Travolta and the Birth of the Adele Dazeem Phenomenon
Amy Zimmerman
March 5, 2014

Historical Examples of gaffe

She has been so charming to me that if I make a gaffe she must forgive me.
Sylvia & Michael
Compton Mackenzie
Think what his position would have been if any member of his Embassy had made a "gaffe."
Letters of a Diplomat's Wife
Mary King Waddington

British Dictionary definitions for gaffe

gaffe

noun

a social blunder, esp a tactless remark

Word Origin for gaffe

C19: from French

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

Word Origin and History for gaffe

"blunder," 1909, perhaps from French gaffe "clumsy remark," originally "boat hook," from Middle French gaffe (15c.), from Old Provençal gaf, probably from a Germanic source, from Proto-Germanic *gafa. Sense connection is obscure; the gaff was used to land big fish. Or it may derive from British slang gaff "to cheat, trick" (1893); or gaff "criticism" (1896), from Scottish dialect sense of "loud, rude talk" (see gaff (n.2)).