kef

[ keyf, kef ]

/ keɪf, kɛf /

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR kef ON THESAURUS.COM

noun (in the Middle East)

a state of drowsy contentment, especially from the use of a narcotic.

Also keef. a substance, especially a smoking preparation of hemp leaves, used to produce this state.

Nearby words

Also kief, kif.

Origin of kef

First recorded in 1800–10, kef is from the Arabic word kaif well-being, pleasure

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

Examples from the Web for kef

Situated at the intersection of main routes from the west and south, Kef occupies a position of strategic importance.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 6|Various
To “do kef,” or to “make kef,” is to pass the time in such a state.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 15, Slice 7|Various
These folks take their kef, as they do every thing else, quietly.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCLXXVI. February, 1847. Vol. LXI.|Various
A––– and his party had started for Kef, malgré my dissuasions.
Notes in North Africa|W. G. Windham

British Dictionary definitions for kef

kef

/ (kɛf) /

noun

a variant of kif

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 kef

kef

1808, from Arabic kaif "well-being, good-humor." Specifically, state of dreaming intoxication produced by smoking cannabis; dolce far niente. In Morocco and Algeria, it was the name for Indian hemp.