naff

American  

[naf] / næf /

adjective

1. unstylish; lacking taste; inferior.

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verb (used without object)

1. to goof off; fool around (often followed by around orabout ).

verb phrase

1. naff off go away: used as an exclamation of impatience.

naff British  

/ næf /

adjective

1. slang inferior; in poor taste

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Other Word Forms

• naffness noun

Etymology

Origin of naff

First recorded in 1955–60, for an earlier sense; perhaps via Polari from Italian, for the adjective; perhaps a corruption of either eff ( def. ) or fanny ( def. ), for the verb

Example Sentences

But one senior Leave-supporting Tory is unimpressed, describing the role's creation as "naff" and "desperate" more than two years on from the 2019 general election.

From BBC • Feb. 9, 2022

They were overlooked for a time after splitting up in the early 1980s, and their image was often branded as naff.

From BBC • Sep. 3, 2021

And certainly, VF has a good track record with its outdoor/workwear brands, which have gone from naff to cool.

From New York Times • Nov. 10, 2020

The word itself – meaningless, infantile, a bit 80s and decidedly naff – is emetic enough without the inefficiency, the pointlessness, the utterly wasted time and opportunity of a procedure that fixes precisely nothing.

From The Guardian • Feb. 13, 2020

“No. Nothing like that. There’s food on board. It’s mostly pretty naff — soy protein bars and freeze-dried noodles and whatnot. But its a change from coconut and fish for you.”

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray