skiff
/skɪf/noun, verb
skiff is spelled S-K-I-F-F: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, skiff means “A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of skiff is skiffs.
How many letters and syllables are in skiff?
| Letters | 5: S-K-I-F-F |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 45,363rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in 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).
How common is skiff?
Skiff appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 45,363rd 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 skiff?
- /skɪf/
Skiff 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-skiff.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with skiff
Sounds like: SCIF (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of skiff
- skiffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- skiffing participle, present
- skiffed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does skiff mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A small flat-bottomed open boat with a pointed bow and square stern.
- 2
Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.
- 3
A light, fleeting shower of rain or snow, or gust of wind, etc.
A skiff of rain blew into the shed and the two men moved their chairs back.
- 4
A (typically light) dusting of snow or ice (or dust, etc) (on ground, water, trees, etc).
- 5
An act of slightly pruning tea bushes, placing new leaves at a convenient height without removing much woody growth.
verb
- 1
To navigate in a skiff.
- 2
To fall lightly or briefly, and lightly cover the ground (etc).
- 3
To cut (a tea bush) to maintain the plucking table.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Skiff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense Any of various types of boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person:
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 skiff come from?
From Middle English skif, from Middle French esquif, from Old Italian schifo (“small boat”), from Lombardic skif (“boat”), from Proto-Germanic *skipą (“boat, ship”). Doublet of ship.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).