"kayfabe" meaning in All languages combined

See kayfabe on Wiktionary

Adjective [English]

IPA: /ˈkeɪfeɪb/ [UK], /ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav [Southern-England], En-us-kayfabe.oga [US]
Rhymes: -eɪfeɪb Etymology: Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang ("carny"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition "be fake" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for "beware"), keep cavey ("stay alert"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian. Etymology templates: {{unknown|en}} Unknown, {{m|en|keep cavey}} keep cavey Head templates: {{en-adjective|-}} kayfabe (not comparable)
  1. (professional wrestling) Of or related to kayfabe, especially forbidden to mention or show in order to maintain kayfabe. Tags: not-comparable Categories (topical): Professional wrestling Synonyms: work, worked
    Sense id: en-kayfabe-en-adj-zsQoVb1g Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, English entries with language name categories using raw markup Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 27 17 30 26 Disambiguation of English entries with language name categories using raw markup: 39 18 22 21 Topics: government, hobbies, lifestyle, martial-arts, military, politics, professional-wrestling, sports, war, wrestling
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: Kay Fabe, kay fabe, kay-fabe, kafabe

Noun [English]

IPA: /ˈkeɪfeɪb/ [UK], /ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav [Southern-England], En-us-kayfabe.oga [US]
Rhymes: -eɪfeɪb Etymology: Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang ("carny"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition "be fake" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for "beware"), keep cavey ("stay alert"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian. Etymology templates: {{unknown|en}} Unknown, {{m|en|keep cavey}} keep cavey Head templates: {{en-noun|-}} kayfabe (uncountable)
  1. (professional wrestling) The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc as authentic or spontaneous. Tags: uncountable Categories (topical): Professional wrestling
    Sense id: en-kayfabe-en-noun-it66Hgd2 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 27 17 30 26 Topics: government, hobbies, lifestyle, martial-arts, military, politics, professional-wrestling, sports, war, wrestling
  2. (figurative) Similar fakery or suspension of disbelief in other contexts. Tags: figuratively, uncountable Synonyms (wrestling fakery): work
    Sense id: en-kayfabe-en-noun-ff3n5mZ0 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 27 17 30 26 Disambiguation of 'wrestling fakery': 44 56
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: Kay Fabe, kay fabe, kay-fabe, kafabe Derived forms: kayfabian

Verb [English]

IPA: /ˈkeɪfeɪb/ [UK], /ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/ [US] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav [Southern-England], En-us-kayfabe.oga [US] Forms: kayfabes [present, singular, third-person], kayfabing [participle, present], kayfabed [participle, past], kayfabed [past]
Rhymes: -eɪfeɪb Etymology: Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang ("carny"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition "be fake" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for "beware"), keep cavey ("stay alert"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian. Etymology templates: {{unknown|en}} Unknown, {{m|en|keep cavey}} keep cavey Head templates: {{en-verb}} kayfabe (third-person singular simple present kayfabes, present participle kayfabing, simple past and past participle kayfabed)
  1. (professional wrestling) To maintain kayfabe, to deceive by staying in character. Categories (topical): Professional wrestling
    Sense id: en-kayfabe-en-verb-3YYbuiFE Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 27 17 30 26 Topics: government, hobbies, lifestyle, martial-arts, military, politics, professional-wrestling, sports, war, wrestling
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Synonyms: Kay Fabe, kay fabe, kay-fabe, kafabe

Inflected forms

Alternative forms

Download JSON data for kayfabe meaning in All languages combined (12.7kB)

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  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "shoot"
    }
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0",
      "word": "kayfabian"
    }
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        "2": "keep cavey"
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      "name": "m"
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  "etymology_text": "Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang (\"carny\"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition \"be fake\" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for \"beware\"), keep cavey (\"stay alert\"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
        "1": "-"
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  "hyphenation": [
    "kay‧fabe"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Professional wrestling",
          "orig": "en:Professional wrestling",
          "parents": [
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            "Sports",
            "Culture",
            "Human activity",
            "Society",
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            "Human",
            "Fundamental"
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          "_dis": "27 17 30 26",
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          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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          "source": "w+disamb"
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2001 April 27, Alex Marvez, \"Grappling for the Right Words?\", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, p. 44",
          "text": "\"Jack, Gordon and I were talking about how we heard Ric Flair do an interview where he said there was no such thing as kay-fabe any more,\" said Blair, referring to the fact most wrestler secrets were exposed in the 1990s."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Eldridge Wayne Coleman & al., Tangled Ropes, p. 143",
          "text": "Suddenly, I heard a shout behind me: \"Kayfabe! Kayfabe!\" It was Gagne, freaking out and twitching and gesturing. He was afraid that some of the marks would see us in such close proximity and wonder why I wasn't choking out Wahoo with the velvet rope leading to the reservation counter, or carving him up with the ticket agent's pen. The thing was that, with the exception of the AWA guys, the terminal was empty."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Saul Lemerond, \"Cowboys in Rainbow City\", Kayfabe & Other Stories, p. 45",
          "text": "I've been breaking kayfabe a lot lately and it's bad, completely unprofessional."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc as authentic or spontaneous."
      ],
      "id": "en-kayfabe-en-noun-it66Hgd2",
      "links": [
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          "professional wrestling",
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        [
          "act",
          "act"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "code",
          "code"
        ],
        [
          "portraying",
          "portraying"
        ],
        [
          "staged",
          "staged"
        ],
        [
          "events",
          "events"
        ],
        [
          "performances",
          "performances"
        ],
        [
          "rivalries",
          "rivalries"
        ],
        [
          "authentic",
          "authentic"
        ],
        [
          "spontaneous",
          "spontaneous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(professional wrestling) The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc as authentic or spontaneous."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "hobbies",
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        "war",
        "wrestling"
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          "_dis": "27 17 30 26",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
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          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, Eero Laine, “Professional Wrestling”, in American History through American Sports, Vol. I, page 226",
          "text": "Business historian Fiona A. E. McQuarrie has noted that the concept of kayfabe is not uncommon outside the realm of professional wrestling, as many corporations \"formally require their members to maintain public silence on company issues or not to express any explicit criticism of the company, through such means as employment contracts or through contracts governing severance or termination of employment.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 September 29, Jonah Goldberg, \"Roy Moore: Gladiator\", National Review",
          "text": "The Republican brand will be tarnished even more as mainstream media outlets and late-night comedians gleefully broadcast Moore’s asininity to the broader public. But, yeah, sure: It’ll be entertaining for people who now follow politics like it’s one long pro-wrestling kayfabe."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Similar fakery or suspension of disbelief in other contexts."
      ],
      "id": "en-kayfabe-en-noun-ff3n5mZ0",
      "links": [
        [
          "Similar",
          "similar"
        ],
        [
          "fakery",
          "fakery"
        ],
        [
          "suspension of disbelief",
          "suspension of disbelief"
        ],
        [
          "other",
          "other"
        ],
        [
          "context",
          "context"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Similar fakery or suspension of disbelief in other contexts."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "_dis1": "44 56",
          "sense": "wrestling fakery",
          "word": "work"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪfeɪb"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav",
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
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      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    },
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      "tags": [
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "Kay Fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kay fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kay-fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kafabe"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "kayfabe"
  ],
  "word": "kayfabe"
}

{
  "etymology_templates": [
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      "args": {
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      },
      "expansion": "Unknown",
      "name": "unknown"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "keep cavey"
      },
      "expansion": "keep cavey",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang (\"carny\"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition \"be fake\" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for \"beware\"), keep cavey (\"stay alert\"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian.",
  "head_templates": [
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      "args": {
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
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          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
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          "orig": "en:Professional wrestling",
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        {
          "_dis": "39 18 22 21",
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          "parents": [
            "Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
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          ],
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        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, Saul Lemerond, \"Cowboys in Rainbow City\", Kayfabe & Other Stories, pp. 43–4",
          "text": "My wife... currently serves as a Florida State Senator... My kayfabe wife has enormous fake breasts, bleach blonde hair, and a nose that is too small for her face."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of or related to kayfabe, especially forbidden to mention or show in order to maintain kayfabe."
      ],
      "id": "en-kayfabe-en-adj-zsQoVb1g",
      "links": [
        [
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          "professional wrestling"
        ],
        [
          "related",
          "related"
        ],
        [
          "kayfabe",
          "#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "especially",
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        ],
        [
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          "forbidden"
        ],
        [
          "mention",
          "mention"
        ],
        [
          "show",
          "show"
        ],
        [
          "in order to",
          "in order to"
        ],
        [
          "maintain",
          "maintain"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(professional wrestling) Of or related to kayfabe, especially forbidden to mention or show in order to maintain kayfabe."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "work"
        },
        {
          "word": "worked"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "martial-arts",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "professional-wrestling",
        "sports",
        "war",
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      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪfeɪb"
    },
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/En-us-kayfabe.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
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    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "Kay Fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kay fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kay-fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kafabe"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
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}

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      "expansion": "Unknown",
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        "1": "en",
        "2": "keep cavey"
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  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang (\"carny\"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition \"be fake\" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for \"beware\"), keep cavey (\"stay alert\"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian.",
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      "form": "kayfabes",
      "tags": [
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        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    },
    {
      "form": "kayfabing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
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    },
    {
      "form": "kayfabed",
      "tags": [
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      "form": "kayfabed",
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      "args": {},
      "expansion": "kayfabe (third-person singular simple present kayfabes, present participle kayfabing, simple past and past participle kayfabed)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
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          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Professional wrestling",
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            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006, Eldridge Wayne Coleman & al., Tangles Ropes, p. 97",
          "text": "...Mascaras was never one of the boys. Here's an example: after his matches, he'd shower with his mask on. I understand protecting your image, but the guy was kayfabing us."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Julie Hart, Hart Strings, page 54",
          "text": "He joked around with me and had me laughing so hard that it was tough not to feel silly about being \"kayfabed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To maintain kayfabe, to deceive by staying in character."
      ],
      "id": "en-kayfabe-en-verb-3YYbuiFE",
      "links": [
        [
          "professional wrestling",
          "professional wrestling"
        ],
        [
          "maintain",
          "maintain"
        ],
        [
          "kayfabe",
          "#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "deceive",
          "deceive"
        ],
        [
          "stay",
          "stay"
        ],
        [
          "in character",
          "in character"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(professional wrestling) To maintain kayfabe, to deceive by staying in character."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "martial-arts",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "professional-wrestling",
        "sports",
        "war",
        "wrestling"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪfeɪb"
    },
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      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    },
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "Kay Fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kay fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kay-fabe"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0 0",
      "word": "kafabe"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "kayfabe"
  ],
  "word": "kayfabe"
}
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "shoot"
    }
  ],
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English Pig Latin terms",
    "English adjectives",
    "English back slang",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English eponyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪfeɪb",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪfeɪb/2 syllables"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "kayfabian"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Unknown",
      "name": "unknown"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "keep cavey"
      },
      "expansion": "keep cavey",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang (\"carny\"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition \"be fake\" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for \"beware\"), keep cavey (\"stay alert\"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "kayfabe (uncountable)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "kay‧fabe"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Professional wrestling"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2001 April 27, Alex Marvez, \"Grappling for the Right Words?\", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, p. 44",
          "text": "\"Jack, Gordon and I were talking about how we heard Ric Flair do an interview where he said there was no such thing as kay-fabe any more,\" said Blair, referring to the fact most wrestler secrets were exposed in the 1990s."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2006, Eldridge Wayne Coleman & al., Tangled Ropes, p. 143",
          "text": "Suddenly, I heard a shout behind me: \"Kayfabe! Kayfabe!\" It was Gagne, freaking out and twitching and gesturing. He was afraid that some of the marks would see us in such close proximity and wonder why I wasn't choking out Wahoo with the velvet rope leading to the reservation counter, or carving him up with the ticket agent's pen. The thing was that, with the exception of the AWA guys, the terminal was empty."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Saul Lemerond, \"Cowboys in Rainbow City\", Kayfabe & Other Stories, p. 45",
          "text": "I've been breaking kayfabe a lot lately and it's bad, completely unprofessional."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc as authentic or spontaneous."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "professional wrestling",
          "professional wrestling"
        ],
        [
          "act",
          "act"
        ],
        [
          "situation",
          "situation"
        ],
        [
          "code",
          "code"
        ],
        [
          "portraying",
          "portraying"
        ],
        [
          "staged",
          "staged"
        ],
        [
          "events",
          "events"
        ],
        [
          "performances",
          "performances"
        ],
        [
          "rivalries",
          "rivalries"
        ],
        [
          "authentic",
          "authentic"
        ],
        [
          "spontaneous",
          "spontaneous"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(professional wrestling) The act, situation, or code of portraying staged events, performances, rivalries, etc as authentic or spontaneous."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "uncountable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "martial-arts",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "professional-wrestling",
        "sports",
        "war",
        "wrestling"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, Eero Laine, “Professional Wrestling”, in American History through American Sports, Vol. I, page 226",
          "text": "Business historian Fiona A. E. McQuarrie has noted that the concept of kayfabe is not uncommon outside the realm of professional wrestling, as many corporations \"formally require their members to maintain public silence on company issues or not to express any explicit criticism of the company, through such means as employment contracts or through contracts governing severance or termination of employment.\"",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2017 September 29, Jonah Goldberg, \"Roy Moore: Gladiator\", National Review",
          "text": "The Republican brand will be tarnished even more as mainstream media outlets and late-night comedians gleefully broadcast Moore’s asininity to the broader public. But, yeah, sure: It’ll be entertaining for people who now follow politics like it’s one long pro-wrestling kayfabe."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Similar fakery or suspension of disbelief in other contexts."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Similar",
          "similar"
        ],
        [
          "fakery",
          "fakery"
        ],
        [
          "suspension of disbelief",
          "suspension of disbelief"
        ],
        [
          "other",
          "other"
        ],
        [
          "context",
          "context"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(figurative) Similar fakery or suspension of disbelief in other contexts."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "figuratively",
        "uncountable"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪfeɪb"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-kayfabe.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b3/En-us-kayfabe.oga/En-us-kayfabe.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/En-us-kayfabe.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "sense": "wrestling fakery",
      "word": "work"
    },
    {
      "word": "Kay Fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kay fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kay-fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kafabe"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "kayfabe"
  ],
  "word": "kayfabe"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English Pig Latin terms",
    "English adjectives",
    "English back slang",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English eponyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪfeɪb",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪfeɪb/2 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Unknown",
      "name": "unknown"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "keep cavey"
      },
      "expansion": "keep cavey",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang (\"carny\"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition \"be fake\" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for \"beware\"), keep cavey (\"stay alert\"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "-"
      },
      "expansion": "kayfabe (not comparable)",
      "name": "en-adjective"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "kay‧fabe"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "adj",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "en:Professional wrestling"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2013, Saul Lemerond, \"Cowboys in Rainbow City\", Kayfabe & Other Stories, pp. 43–4",
          "text": "My wife... currently serves as a Florida State Senator... My kayfabe wife has enormous fake breasts, bleach blonde hair, and a nose that is too small for her face."
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Of or related to kayfabe, especially forbidden to mention or show in order to maintain kayfabe."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "professional wrestling",
          "professional wrestling"
        ],
        [
          "related",
          "related"
        ],
        [
          "kayfabe",
          "#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "especially",
          "especially"
        ],
        [
          "forbidden",
          "forbidden"
        ],
        [
          "mention",
          "mention"
        ],
        [
          "show",
          "show"
        ],
        [
          "in order to",
          "in order to"
        ],
        [
          "maintain",
          "maintain"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(professional wrestling) Of or related to kayfabe, especially forbidden to mention or show in order to maintain kayfabe."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "not-comparable"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "martial-arts",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "professional-wrestling",
        "sports",
        "war",
        "wrestling"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪfeɪb"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-kayfabe.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b3/En-us-kayfabe.oga/En-us-kayfabe.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/En-us-kayfabe.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "work"
    },
    {
      "word": "worked"
    },
    {
      "word": "Kay Fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kay fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kay-fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kafabe"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "kayfabe"
  ],
  "word": "kayfabe"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English 2-syllable words",
    "English Pig Latin terms",
    "English adjectives",
    "English back slang",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
    "English eponyms",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Latin",
    "English terms with IPA pronunciation",
    "English terms with audio links",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English uncomparable adjectives",
    "English uncountable nouns",
    "English verbs",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪfeɪb",
    "Rhymes:English/eɪfeɪb/2 syllables"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en"
      },
      "expansion": "Unknown",
      "name": "unknown"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "keep cavey"
      },
      "expansion": "keep cavey",
      "name": "m"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Unknown, but attributed to US carnival slang (\"carny\"), usually as a purposefully obscure variant of the admonition \"be fake\" formed through backslang or mangled pig Latin. Also sometimes attributed to an alteration of cave (Latin for \"beware\"), keep cavey (\"stay alert\"), or an eponymous figure named Kay Fabe or Kay Fabian.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "kayfabes",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kayfabing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kayfabed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "kayfabed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "kayfabe (third-person singular simple present kayfabes, present participle kayfabing, simple past and past participle kayfabed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "hyphenation": [
    "kay‧fabe"
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Professional wrestling"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2006, Eldridge Wayne Coleman & al., Tangles Ropes, p. 97",
          "text": "...Mascaras was never one of the boys. Here's an example: after his matches, he'd shower with his mask on. I understand protecting your image, but the guy was kayfabing us."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2013, Julie Hart, Hart Strings, page 54",
          "text": "He joked around with me and had me laughing so hard that it was tough not to feel silly about being \"kayfabed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To maintain kayfabe, to deceive by staying in character."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "professional wrestling",
          "professional wrestling"
        ],
        [
          "maintain",
          "maintain"
        ],
        [
          "kayfabe",
          "#Noun"
        ],
        [
          "deceive",
          "deceive"
        ],
        [
          "stay",
          "stay"
        ],
        [
          "in character",
          "in character"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(professional wrestling) To maintain kayfabe, to deceive by staying in character."
      ],
      "topics": [
        "government",
        "hobbies",
        "lifestyle",
        "martial-arts",
        "military",
        "politics",
        "professional-wrestling",
        "sports",
        "war",
        "wrestling"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "UK"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkeɪˌfeɪb/",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-eɪfeɪb"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/6/68/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-kayfabe.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (Southern England)"
    },
    {
      "audio": "En-us-kayfabe.oga",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/b/b3/En-us-kayfabe.oga/En-us-kayfabe.oga.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/En-us-kayfabe.oga",
      "tags": [
        "US"
      ],
      "text": "Audio (US)"
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "Kay Fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kay fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kay-fabe"
    },
    {
      "word": "kafabe"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "kayfabe"
  ],
  "word": "kayfabe"
}
{
  "called_from": "linkages/371",
  "msg": "unrecognized linkage prefix: (antonym(s) of “wrestling fakery”): shoot desc=antonym(s) of “wrestling fakery” rest=shoot cls=other cls2=english e1=False e2=True",
  "path": [
    "kayfabe"
  ],
  "section": "English",
  "subsection": "noun",
  "title": "kayfabe",
  "trace": ""
}

This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-03 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-05-02 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.