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gaffe

 - 3 dictionary results

gaffe

  [gaf]
–noun
a social blunder; faux pas.
Use gaffe in a Sentence
Origin:
1905–10; < F: blunder, prob. special use of gaffe gaff 1
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2010.
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gaffe also gaff   (gāf)   
n.  

  1. 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).

  2. A blatant mistake or misjudgment.


[French, from Old French, hook; see gaff1.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Word Origin & History

gaffe 
"blunder," 1909, from Fr. gaffe "clumsy remark," originally "boat hook," from O.Fr. gaffe, from O.Prov. gaf, probably from W.Goth. *gafa "hook," from P.Gmc. *gafa. Sense connection is obscure. The gaff was also used to land big fish. Or it may derive from Brit. slang gaff "to cheat, trick" (1893); or gaff "criticism" (1896), from Scot. dial. sense of "loud, rude talk," which ultimately may be from O.E. gaf-spræc "blasphemous or ribald speech."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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