naff
/næf/adjective
naff is spelled N-A-F-F: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,980th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, naff means “Bad; tasteless, poorly thought out, not workable; tacky” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in naff?
| Letters | 4: N-A-F-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 74,980th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is naff?
Naff appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,980th 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 naff?
- /næf/
Naff 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-au-naff.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of naff
- naffer comparative
- naffest superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does naff mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
CommonwealthIrelandUKcolloquialBad; tasteless, poorly thought out, not workable; tacky.
That tie is a bit naff, don’t you think?
- 2
Heterosexual.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does naff come from?
Perhaps from Polari, 1960s. Further etymology unknown; perhaps a conscious corruption of either fanny or eff (off) (see naff off).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).