skiff

\skif\

/\skif\/ noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

The verdict

“skiff” is uncommon French (frequency #91,176 among 6,032 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,176
frequency rank, French
6,032
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Bateau assez léger pour générer une vague de sillage et la dépasser en passant au déjaugeage.

Corpus desk

Index FR-skiff · skiff · French

skiff · rank #91,176 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #91,176
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,032
  • PHOTO-FINISH sismicité

Nearest frequency peer: sismicité (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « skiff »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « skiff » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for skiff
PropertyValue
Headwordskiff
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\skif\
Letters5
Frequency rank#91,176
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « skiff » en français

Cette échelle va du noyau du français courant (gauche) jusqu'à la traîne des formes rares (droite).skifftombe dans cette queue de rareté:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « sismicité » (#91,175), « slender » (#91,177), « singers » (#91,174). Parmi 6,032 lemmes en « S », « skiff » est au #91,176. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

skiff is uncommon French at frequency #91,176 among 6,032 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \skif\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.

skiff has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct French form is skiff, spelled S-K-I-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Bateau assez léger pour générer une vague de sillage et la dépasser en passant au déjaugeage.
  2. 2
    La plupart des dériveurs apparus après les années 1990 et possédant un spinnaker asymétrique.
  3. 3
    Embarcation annexe d’un thonier senneur congélateur, utilisé pour maintenir la senne lorsque le thonier fait le cercle autour du poisson.
  4. 4
    Embarcation pour une personne, longue et fine, utilisée en aviron.
  5. 5
    Au début du XX^(ème) siècle, type de carrosserie (souvent en bois) copié sur les bateaux du même nom.

This word in other languages

skiff(English)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "skiff"?
"skiff" is spelled S-K-I-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is \skif\.
What does "skiff" mean?
As a noun, "skiff" means: Bateau assez léger pour générer une vague de sillage et la dépasser en passant au déjaugeage.
How do you pronounce "skiff"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "skiff" is \skif\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "skiff" come from?
"skiff" 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.

Similar French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "skiff", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked French headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sloop#91,178sofas#91,182satis#91,150swarm#91,210

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list