# gaffer

> English word · Noun · IPA /ɡæfɚ/ · frequency rank #48,759

## Definitions
1. A chief lighting technician for a motion-picture or television production.
2. A glassblower.
3. Someone aboard a boat whose duty is to gaff a (large) fish once the angler has reeled it in.

## Etymology
From gaff (“hook”) + -er.
* (cinema): The natural lighting on early film sets was adjusted by opening and closing flaps in the tent cloths, called gaff cloths or gaff flaps.
* (glass)

## Easily confused with
- **gamer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-gamer)
- **gather** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-gather)
- **garner** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-garner)
- **golfer** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-golfer)
- **garter** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-garter)
- **gander** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-gander)
- **gawker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-gawker)
- **Geffen** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-geffen)
- **Gaffney** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffer-vs-gaffney)
- **gaff** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaff-vs-gaffer)
- **gaffe** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gaffe-vs-gaffer)

## Common misspellings (7)
`agffer`, `gafefr`, `gafer`, `gafferr`, `gaffre`, `gfafer`, `ggaffer`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gaffer