kerfuffle

[ ker-fuhf-uhl ]

See synonyms for kerfuffle on Thesaurus.com

noun

Chiefly British Informal. a fuss; commotion.

Origin of kerfuffle

First recorded in 1945–50; from Scots curfuffle, equivalent to cur- (from Scots Gaelic car “to twist, turn,” from Old Irish cor “a turn) + fuffle “to disorder, confuse” (of imitative origin)

Words Nearby kerfuffle

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use kerfuffle in a sentence

This comment kicked up a kerfuffle online that even had Auriemma’s daughter weighing in on Twitter, urging her father to walk his remark back.
Title IX Gave Women More Chances To Coach In College. But It Gave Even More Opportunities To Men. | Dvora Meyers | June 23, 2022 | FiveThirtyEight
The international kerfuffle began organically enough, when photos surfaced online Wednesday night of a masked Cruz and his wife, Heidi Cruz, at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport, waiting at a gate to board a flight to Cancun.
One night in Cancun: Ted Cruz’s disastrous decision to go on vacation during Texas storm crisis | Ashley Parker | February 19, 2021 | Washington Post
The kerfuffle began with a £200 bet, followed by several smaller bets in quick succession.
Could The Queen Abdicate on Christmas Day? | Tom Sykes | December 17, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The only person this entirely unneccesary kerfuffle harms is Kate Middleton herself.
Kate Middleton's History of Flesh-Flashing Wardrobe Malfunctions | Tom Sykes | May 29, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
The entire kerfuffle shows the straits that House Republicans are in on immigration reform.
Even a Path to Citizenship for Military Volunteers Is Too Much for House Republicans | Ben Jacobs | April 7, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

Hitchcock decided to abandon his adaptation of Hamlet to avoid any legal kerfuffle.
Doomed Passion Projects of Hollywood: The Lost Classics of Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, and More | Marlow Stern | March 28, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST
That's the goofiest part about the kerfuffle: It's not a theoretical discussion.
Michael Sam Is Not a ‘Distraction’ | Dave Cullen | February 12, 2014 | THE DAILY BEAST

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

Origin of 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

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