See eff in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for eff meaning in English (6.5kB)
{
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_text": "A spelling of the letter f (also spelled ef), the initial letter of the vulgar term fuck. Compare pee.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "effs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "effing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "effed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "effed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "eff (third-person singular simple present effs, present participle effing, simple past and past participle effed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English euphemisms",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "10 42 48",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "38 32 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "eff all"
},
{
"word": "eff and blind"
},
{
"word": "eff and jeff"
},
{
"word": "effing"
},
{
"word": "eff off"
},
{
"word": "eff up"
},
{
"word": "what the eff"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Eff off!",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "And he kept saying, \"Effing this, effing that.\"",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Fuck (the taboo swear word, but not in the sense \"to copulate\")"
],
"id": "en-eff-en-verb-pWIfgWpZ",
"links": [
[
"Fuck",
"fuck"
],
[
"swear word",
"swear word"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(euphemistic, slang) Fuck (the taboo swear word, but not in the sense \"to copulate\")"
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "feck"
},
{
"word": "frak"
},
{
"word": "frig"
},
{
"word": "funk"
}
],
"tags": [
"euphemistic",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ɛf/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɛf"
},
{
"homophone": "f"
},
{
"enpr": "ĕf"
}
],
"word": "eff"
}
{
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ineffable"
},
"expansion": "Back-formation from ineffable",
"name": "backformation"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Back-formation from ineffable",
"forms": [
{
"form": "effs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "effing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "effed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "effed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "eff (third-person singular simple present effs, present participle effing, simple past and past participle effed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "10 42 48",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "38 32 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "English back-formations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2001, Paul West, Master Class: Scenes from a Fiction Workshop, page 57",
"text": "They, no more than we, found it hard to eff the ineffable, but they, you see, needed to console themselves more.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2018, Wesley J. Wildman, Effing the Ineffable: Existential Mumblings at the Limits of Language, page 83",
"text": "It is another way of effing the ineffable, one with potentially serious practical effects.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020, Tim Vivian, Other Voices, Other Rooms: Poems, page 100",
"text": "Douglas Adams (1952–2001), author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, puts it memorably: “Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To put into words; to express."
],
"id": "en-eff-en-verb-3kiOCM6u",
"links": [
[
"put into words",
"put into words"
],
[
"express",
"express"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ɛf/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɛf"
},
{
"homophone": "f"
},
{
"enpr": "ĕf"
}
],
"word": "eff"
}
{
"etymology_number": 3,
"forms": [
{
"form": "effs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "eff (plural effs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"extra": "the name of the Latin-script letter F",
"word": "ef"
}
],
"categories": [
{
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "Latin letter names",
"orig": "en:Latin letter names",
"parents": [
"Letter names",
"Letters, symbols, and punctuation",
"Names",
"Orthography",
"All topics",
"Proper nouns",
"Terms by semantic function",
"Writing",
"Fundamental",
"Nouns",
"Human behaviour",
"Language",
"Lemmas",
"Human",
"Communication"
],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "10 42 48",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "38 32 30",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "effell"
},
{
"word": "eff why eye"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1969, Michael Feld, The Sabbatical Year, London: Alan Ross Ltd, page 301",
"text": "‘Eff. You. En,’ said Mr Banstead. ‘Fun![…]’",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2019, Amy Einsohn, Marilyn Schwartz, “[Abbreviations and Symbols] Abbreviations”, in The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, 4th edition, University of California Press, part 2 (Editorial Style), page 242",
"text": "A or an? When an indefinite article precedes an acronym or initialism, the choice between a and an follows from the pronunciation: / a FAQ file (“fack”; but “an FAQ file” with the alternate pronunciation “eff-ay-cue”) / an FTC commissioner (“eff-tee-cee”)",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2019, Anand Ranganathan, Chitra Subramaniam, The Rat Eater, Bloomsbury India",
"text": "‘S-S-C…sitting on a tree…eff-you-cee-kay-i-en-ji.’",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative spelling of ef; the name of the Latin-script letter F."
],
"id": "en-eff-en-noun--V5HidzI",
"links": [
[
"ef",
"ef#English"
],
[
"F",
"F#English"
]
],
"tags": [
"alt-of",
"alternative"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ɛf/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɛf"
},
{
"homophone": "f"
},
{
"enpr": "ĕf"
}
],
"word": "eff"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 1-syllable words",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English spelled-out initialisms",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with homophones",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/ɛf",
"Rhymes:English/ɛf/1 syllable"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "eff all"
},
{
"word": "eff and blind"
},
{
"word": "eff and jeff"
},
{
"word": "effing"
},
{
"word": "eff off"
},
{
"word": "eff up"
},
{
"word": "what the eff"
}
],
"etymology_number": 1,
"etymology_text": "A spelling of the letter f (also spelled ef), the initial letter of the vulgar term fuck. Compare pee.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "effs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "effing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "effed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "effed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "eff (third-person singular simple present effs, present participle effing, simple past and past participle effed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English euphemisms",
"English slang",
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Eff off!",
"type": "example"
},
{
"text": "And he kept saying, \"Effing this, effing that.\"",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Fuck (the taboo swear word, but not in the sense \"to copulate\")"
],
"links": [
[
"Fuck",
"fuck"
],
[
"swear word",
"swear word"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(euphemistic, slang) Fuck (the taboo swear word, but not in the sense \"to copulate\")"
],
"tags": [
"euphemistic",
"slang"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ɛf/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɛf"
},
{
"homophone": "f"
},
{
"enpr": "ĕf"
}
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "feck"
},
{
"word": "frak"
},
{
"word": "frig"
},
{
"word": "funk"
}
],
"word": "eff"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 1-syllable words",
"English back-formations",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English spelled-out initialisms",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with homophones",
"English verbs",
"Rhymes:English/ɛf",
"Rhymes:English/ɛf/1 syllable"
],
"etymology_number": 2,
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "ineffable"
},
"expansion": "Back-formation from ineffable",
"name": "backformation"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Back-formation from ineffable",
"forms": [
{
"form": "effs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "effing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "effed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "effed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "eff (third-person singular simple present effs, present participle effing, simple past and past participle effed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2001, Paul West, Master Class: Scenes from a Fiction Workshop, page 57",
"text": "They, no more than we, found it hard to eff the ineffable, but they, you see, needed to console themselves more.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2018, Wesley J. Wildman, Effing the Ineffable: Existential Mumblings at the Limits of Language, page 83",
"text": "It is another way of effing the ineffable, one with potentially serious practical effects.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2020, Tim Vivian, Other Voices, Other Rooms: Poems, page 100",
"text": "Douglas Adams (1952–2001), author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, puts it memorably: “Let's think the unthinkable, let's do the undoable. Let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all.”",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To put into words; to express."
],
"links": [
[
"put into words",
"put into words"
],
[
"express",
"express"
]
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ɛf/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɛf"
},
{
"homophone": "f"
},
{
"enpr": "ĕf"
}
],
"word": "eff"
}
{
"categories": [
"English 1-syllable words",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with language name categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English spelled-out initialisms",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"English terms with homophones",
"Rhymes:English/ɛf",
"Rhymes:English/ɛf/1 syllable"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "effell"
},
{
"word": "eff why eye"
}
],
"etymology_number": 3,
"forms": [
{
"form": "effs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "eff (plural effs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"alt_of": [
{
"extra": "the name of the Latin-script letter F",
"word": "ef"
}
],
"categories": [
"English terms with quotations",
"en:Latin letter names"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1969, Michael Feld, The Sabbatical Year, London: Alan Ross Ltd, page 301",
"text": "‘Eff. You. En,’ said Mr Banstead. ‘Fun![…]’",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2019, Amy Einsohn, Marilyn Schwartz, “[Abbreviations and Symbols] Abbreviations”, in The Copyeditor’s Handbook: A Guide for Book Publishing and Corporate Communications, 4th edition, University of California Press, part 2 (Editorial Style), page 242",
"text": "A or an? When an indefinite article precedes an acronym or initialism, the choice between a and an follows from the pronunciation: / a FAQ file (“fack”; but “an FAQ file” with the alternate pronunciation “eff-ay-cue”) / an FTC commissioner (“eff-tee-cee”)",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2019, Anand Ranganathan, Chitra Subramaniam, The Rat Eater, Bloomsbury India",
"text": "‘S-S-C…sitting on a tree…eff-you-cee-kay-i-en-ji.’",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"Alternative spelling of ef; the name of the Latin-script letter F."
],
"links": [
[
"ef",
"ef#English"
],
[
"F",
"F#English"
]
],
"tags": [
"alt-of",
"alternative"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/ɛf/"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɛf"
},
{
"homophone": "f"
},
{
"enpr": "ĕf"
}
],
"word": "eff"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-04-26 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (93a6c53 and 21a9316). 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.