gaffe
/ɡæf/noun
gaffe is spelled G-A-F-F-E: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “gaff vs gaffe” about 30 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, gaffe means “A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public; a social blunder; a breach of etiquette” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of gaffe is gaffes.
How many letters and syllables are in gaffe?
| Letters | 5: G-A-F-F-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 43,663rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How common is gaffe?
Gaffe appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 43,663rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce gaffe?
- /ɡæf/
Gaffe has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-gaffe.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with gaffe
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: gaff (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of gaffe
- gaffes plural
- gaff
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does gaffe mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public; a social blunder; a breach of etiquette.
make a gaffe
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Gaffe in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense a foolish error, especially one made in public:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | gaffe, faux pas, bévue |
| German | Fauxpas, Ausrutscher, Patzer |
| Portuguese | gafe |
| Spanish | metida de pata, metedura de pata, desliz, pifia, cagada, gazapo |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does gaffe come from?
From French gaffe (“blunder”). Doublet of gaff.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).