Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A clumsy social error; a faux pas.
  • noun A blatant mistake or misjudgment.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun A socially awkward or tactless act.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A foolish and embarrassing error, especially one made in public.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a socially awkward or tactless act

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[French, from Old French, hook; see gaff.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From French gaffe ("blunder").

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Examples

Comments

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  • His mistake is no isolated gaffe.

    October 10, 2010