chaff

\ʃaf\

/\ʃaf\/ noun

The verdict

“chaff” is uncommon French (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency French
5
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Mélange, à parties égales, de paille et de foin coupés.

Corpus desk

Index FR-chaff · chaff · French

chaff · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Key facts for chaff
PropertyValue
Headwordchaff
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ʃaf\
Letters5
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « chaff » en français

chaffsiège au-delà des 100.000 formes les plus fréquentes du français, dans la traîne du lexique spécialisé ou peu usité.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

chaff is uncommon French outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed \ʃaf\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Mélange, à parties égales, de paille et de foin coupés.".

No misspelling variants are generated for chaff in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable French patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct French form is chaff, spelled C-H-A-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Mélange, à parties égales, de paille et de foin coupés.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "chaff"?
"chaff" is spelled C-H-A-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is \ʃaf\.
What does "chaff" mean?
As a noun, "chaff" means: Mélange, à parties égales, de paille et de foin coupés.
How do you pronounce "chaff"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "chaff" is \ʃaf\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "chaff" come from?
"chaff" is a French word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list