Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A clumsy social error; a faux pas: "The excursion had in his eyes been a monstrous gaffe, a breach of sensibility and good taste” ( Mary McCarthy).
- n. A blatant mistake or misjudgment.
Wiktionary
- n. A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A socially awkward or tactless act.
WordNet 3.0
- n. a socially awkward or tactless act
Etymologies
- French, from Old French, hook; see gaff1.
Examples
“If the definition of a gaffe is a politician accidentally telling the truth, this is absolutely, positively, one hundred percent gaffetastic:”
“Remember, a gaffe is when a politician says what they mean.”
Why You Should Vote For Scott Brown And Against Martha Coakley « Tai-Chi Policy
“The remarks were so bizarre some observers dismissed them as just another gaffe from a candidate dogged by allegations of infidelity and sending pornographic images by email.”
The Guardian: US shaken by sudden surge of violence against gay people
“But this gaffe is for the best – even lamescream media wrote about it and political victims is what we need now.”
“The latest verbal gaffe from the tea party-backed contender came when she squared off in a debate against Democratic opponent Chris Coons.”
“Biden's gaffe is a disgrace to the office he has sworn to uphold, and the Democrats profiting on his coattails are setting a horrible example of us to the rest of our world.”
“Otherwise, this latest gaffe is just unforgiveable.”
“Remember, a gaffe is when you accidentally tell the truth …”
“In Michael Kinsley's famous formulation, a gaffe is what happens when a politician says what he actually thinks is true.”
“Let me follow up on this McCain gaffe in which he got confused ...”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘gaffe’.
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4084 more...
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Noteworthy Words
Here I have in mind a list of words that could be spelled with only the letters A, B, C, D, E, F, and G--and thus could also be played as a tune on the piano.
face, ace, bag, cage, bad, fad, fade, fee, gee, beg, fed, deaf and 98 more...
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jaydrox's list
Mah list!
mediocracy, captivatingly, devastatingly, dazedly, heavenly, flawless, copious, conviction, synoptic, amalgamation, prefatory, precursory and 150 more...
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Verbal Blunders
Speech errors and speech disfluencies
boner, gaffe, malapropism, Freudian slip, blooper, speech disfluency, phonological anti..., phonological pers..., gibberish, repetition, blend, slip of the tongue and 17 more...
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Mistakes Were Made
scanno, typo, catachresis, spoonerism, lapsus linguae, lapsus calami, mispronunciation, faux pas, friendly fire, erratum, divorce, mea culpa and 19 more...
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February 2012
filiopietistic, bifurcate, enclave, wedlock, decadent, unduly, defunct, lapel, tumescent, capitulation, leaden, scintilla and 83 more...
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Dumbisms
Words and phrases I don't like. They are dumb.
re-look, good to go, reinvent the wheel, do what, ducks in a row, re-up, twofer, irregardless, repurpose, ballyhoo, bells and whistles, webinar and 53 more...
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Incorrectum
Mistakes, Errors and Accidents.
nihilartikel, solecism, bevue, corrigendum, acyrology, cacoepy, fido, hamartithia, jeofail, mésalliance, mumpsimus, pseudochronism and 63 more...
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Dean Koontz Life Expectancy
Words I'm learning or investigating that I found by reading Life Expectancy (not all words are in the book).
chutzpah, luminous, torchieres, dunderheaded, inane, lummox, fox-trot, rumba, cha-cha, tango, swing, flub and 37 more...
jwjarvis His mistake is no isolated gaffe. Oct 10, 2010