Dictionary.com
definitions

kerfuffle

[ ker-fuhf-uh l ]
/ kərˈfʌf əl /
|
SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR kerfuffle ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

Chiefly British Informal. a fuss; commotion.

RELATED CONTENT

What’s Nuclear About A Football?Whose nuclear launch button is bigger? There has been a serious kerfuffle in the news about buttons and their relative size. Specifically, nuclear launch buttons. Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, flatly stated that a nuclear button is on his desk at all times. “It’s not a mere threat but a reality that I have a nuclear button on the desk in my office.” …
READ MORE
Velociraptor And Other Trending Words On Dictionary.comThe royal wedding taught the world a few new words, but it wasn't the only thing driving our trending searches this week.
READ MORE

RELATED WORDS

commotion, disruption, disturbance, disorder, tumult, splash, convulsion, upheaval, fracas, melee, row, brouhaha, unrest, fiasco, chaos

Nearby words

  1. kereru,
  2. keresan,
  3. kerf,
  4. kerflooey,
  5. kerflop,
  6. kerguelen,
  7. kerguelen islands,
  8. kerion,
  9. kerki,
  10. kerkrade

Origin of kerfuffle

1945–50; < Scots curfuffle < cur- (< Scots Gaelic car ‘to twist, turn’ < Old Irish cor ‘a turn’) + fuffle ‘to disorder, confuse’ (of imitative origin)
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for kerfuffle

British Dictionary definitions for kerfuffle

kerfuffle

carfuffle or kurfuffle

/ (kəˈfʌfəl) /

noun

informal, mainly British commotion; disorder; agitation

verb

(tr) Scot to put into disorder or disarray; ruffle or disarrange

Word Origin for kerfuffle

from Scottish curfuffle, carfuffle, from Scottish Gaelic car twist, turn + fuffle to disarrange
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