skiff
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of skiff
1565–75; < early Italian schifo < Old High German scif ship 1
Explanation
A skiff is a small boat. If you decide to purchase a skiff instead of giant yacht, you're probably someone who prefers the quiet, simple life. (Or maybe you just didn’t want to spend the money on a yacht.) A skiff may be powered by oars, sails, or a motor, but in any of these cases, a typical skiff can carry only a few passengers. Skiff originally referred to a small boat attached to a large ship; the skiff would have been used for communication with and transportation to other large ships and the shore. Winslow Homer, a 19th-century American artist, often portrayed skiffs in his depictions of marine scenes.
Vocabulary lists containing skiff
Touching Spirit Bear
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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The Old Man and the Sea
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When they finally located the skiff, they flashed a light on the passengers to make sure they weren’t armed.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 12, 2025
She and her two companions set out on a typical wooden fishing skiff at 5 a.m., the person said, with strong winds and choppy seas slowing them down.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 10, 2025
The first sailing medals of the Games will be awarded in the skiff class.
From BBC • Jul. 24, 2024
They departed on Easter Sunday for Pikelot Atoll, about 115 miles away, in a traditional 20-foot skiff with an outboard motor, the Coast Guard added.
From BBC • Apr. 11, 2024
Check to make sure Rose ain’t leaking—nope, dry as a bone—and then drag traps out to the end of the dock and lower ’em into my skiff.
From "The Young Man and the Sea" by Rodman Philbrick
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
