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PlainSpell

tiff

/tɪf/noun, verb

tiff is spelled T-I-F-F: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tiff means “A (generally small) argument or disagreement; a petty quarrel, a spat” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tiff is tiffs.

How many letters and syllables are in tiff?

Letters4: T-I-F-F
Syllables1 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing1.1 times per million words; the 27,820th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Rhymes with

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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.

How common is tiff?

Tiff appears 1.1 times per million words in written English, the 27,820th 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 tiff?

  • US /tɪf/

Tiff 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tiff.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-tiff.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

What rhymes with tiff?

4 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tiff from its last stressed vowel (/ɪf/):

Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).

Forms of tiff

  • tiffs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • tiffing participle, present
  • tiffed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does tiff mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    informalA (generally small) argument or disagreement; a petty quarrel, a spat.

  2. 2

    archaicinformalA brief outburst or period of bad temper; a snit; also (rare) any brief outburst (for example, of laughter).

  3. 3

    informalAlternative letter-case form of TIFF (acronym of tagged image file format).

  4. 4

    archaicinformalobsoleteslangA small draught or sip of liquor (especially diluted or poor quality liquor) or punch.

  5. 5

    archaicinformalobsoleteslangLiquor, especially diluted or poor quality liquor.

  6. 6

    archaicinformalobsoleterareslangThe way in which one's body or hair is decked out or dressed.

verb

  1. 1

    informalTo be involved in a (generally small) argument or disagreement; to squabble.

  2. 2

    BritishIndiainformalSynonym of tiffin (“to eat a (light) midday meal or snack; to have lunch, to lunch”).

  3. 3

    archaicinformalobsoleteslangTo drink (liquor), especially slowly or in small amounts; to sip.

  4. 4

    archaicinformalobsoleteslangTo deck out or dress (someone or oneself, or their body or hair).

  5. 5

    archaicinformalobsoleteslangTo deck out or dress one's body or hair.

noun

as TIFF
  1. 1

    An image stored in the TIFF format.

  2. 2

    A file using TIFF file format

noun

as Tiff
  1. 1

    Alternative form of TIFF.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Tiff in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

In the sense (generally small) argument or disagreement:

LanguageWords
Spanishaltercado

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 tiff come from?

The origin of the noun is unknown; it is possibly originally dialectal and may be onomatopoeic, representing the sound of a small puff of air or gas. The verb is derived from the noun.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after tiff