See faff in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
{
"etymology_text": "From a dialect word meaning \"blow in gusts\".",
"forms": [
{
"form": "faffs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "faff (plural faffs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Commonwealth English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Irish English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Adjusting this television is a bit of a faff.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2007 November 27, Hadley Freeman, “Miaow!”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "God it must be a faff having to get nigh-on naked every time your bladder runneth over, and imagine how much worse it must be if you only have a 20-second break to run off stage to the loo.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Patrick Kingsley, “Life with the Queen Mum revealed”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "Breakfast in bed at the royal household is a massive faff. A page boy must carry the tray upstairs, but he's banned from actually serving it. So he leaves it on the floor by the bedroom door, whereupon a housemaid picks it up and knocks on said portal.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2017, Andi Watson, Glister, →ISBN:",
"text": "The fuss and faff meant Christmas had long since been drained of any joy and excitement.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2023 September 23, Tim Hayward, “Not so easy does it”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 19:",
"text": "The show is a carefully curated manifesto of “social success without faff”.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time."
],
"id": "en-faff-en-noun-56I8MJyn",
"links": [
[
"overcomplicated",
"overcomplicated"
],
[
"waste of time",
"waste of time"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "nuisance"
}
],
"tags": [
"Commonwealth",
"Ireland",
"UK",
"slang"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "an overcomplicated task",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "gedoe"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "an overcomplicated task",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "soesa"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "an overcomplicated task",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "bzdura"
},
{
"_dis1": "98 2",
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "an overcomplicated task",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "głupota"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [],
"examples": [
{
"text": "She's in a total faff about tonight's dinner party.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A state of confused or frantic activity."
],
"id": "en-faff-en-noun-o0J1zgMH",
"qualifier": "typically in the phrase 'in a faff'",
"raw_glosses": [
"(typically in the phrase 'in a faff') A state of confused or frantic activity."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "flap"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/fæf/"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-faff.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4a/En-au-faff.ogg/En-au-faff.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/En-au-faff.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-æf"
}
],
"word": "faff"
}
{
"etymology_text": "From a dialect word meaning \"blow in gusts\".",
"forms": [
{
"form": "faffs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "faffing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "faffed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "faffed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "faff (third-person singular simple present faffs, present participle faffing, simple past and past participle faffed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Australian English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "Irish English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "New Zealand English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "36 2 62",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "18 4 78",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Entries with translation boxes",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "2 2 27 4 66",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with 2 entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "1 1 29 2 66",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Pages with entries",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "20 6 74",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Dutch translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "24 5 71",
"kind": "other",
"name": "Terms with Polish translations",
"parents": [],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "faff about"
},
{
"word": "faff around"
},
{
"word": "faffer"
},
{
"word": "faffery"
},
{
"word": "faff on"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2009, Steven Aitchison, 100 Ways to Develop Your Mind, page 131:",
"text": "Stop Faffing And Just Do It",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To waste time on an unproductive activity."
],
"id": "en-faff-en-verb-Rg6TMgVV",
"links": [
[
"waste time",
"waste time"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) To waste time on an unproductive activity."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "arse around"
},
{
"english": "American",
"word": "dick around"
}
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"British",
"Ireland",
"New-Zealand"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/fæf/"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-faff.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4a/En-au-faff.ogg/En-au-faff.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/En-au-faff.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-æf"
}
],
"word": "faff"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 2 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Requests for gender in Cimbrian entries",
"Rhymes:English/æf",
"Rhymes:English/æf/1 syllable",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"cim:Flowers",
"cim:Lily family plants",
"cim:Occupations",
"cim:People",
"cim:Religion"
],
"etymology_text": "From a dialect word meaning \"blow in gusts\".",
"forms": [
{
"form": "faffs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "faff (plural faffs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"British English",
"Commonwealth English",
"English slang",
"English terms with quotations",
"English terms with usage examples",
"Irish English"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "Adjusting this television is a bit of a faff.",
"type": "example"
},
{
"ref": "2007 November 27, Hadley Freeman, “Miaow!”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "God it must be a faff having to get nigh-on naked every time your bladder runneth over, and imagine how much worse it must be if you only have a 20-second break to run off stage to the loo.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2011, Patrick Kingsley, “Life with the Queen Mum revealed”, in The Guardian:",
"text": "Breakfast in bed at the royal household is a massive faff. A page boy must carry the tray upstairs, but he's banned from actually serving it. So he leaves it on the floor by the bedroom door, whereupon a housemaid picks it up and knocks on said portal.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2017, Andi Watson, Glister, →ISBN:",
"text": "The fuss and faff meant Christmas had long since been drained of any joy and excitement.",
"type": "quote"
},
{
"ref": "2023 September 23, Tim Hayward, “Not so easy does it”, in FT Weekend, Life & Arts, page 19:",
"text": "The show is a carefully curated manifesto of “social success without faff”.",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time."
],
"links": [
[
"overcomplicated",
"overcomplicated"
],
[
"waste of time",
"waste of time"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(UK, Ireland, Commonwealth, slang) An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "nuisance"
}
],
"tags": [
"Commonwealth",
"Ireland",
"UK",
"slang"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"English terms with usage examples"
],
"examples": [
{
"text": "She's in a total faff about tonight's dinner party.",
"type": "example"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A state of confused or frantic activity."
],
"qualifier": "typically in the phrase 'in a faff'",
"raw_glosses": [
"(typically in the phrase 'in a faff') A state of confused or frantic activity."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "flap"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/fæf/"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-faff.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4a/En-au-faff.ogg/En-au-faff.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/En-au-faff.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-æf"
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "an overcomplicated task",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "gedoe"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "an overcomplicated task",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "soesa"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "an overcomplicated task",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "bzdura"
},
{
"code": "pl",
"lang": "Polish",
"sense": "an overcomplicated task",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "głupota"
}
],
"word": "faff"
}
{
"categories": [
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English verbs",
"Entries with translation boxes",
"Pages with 2 entries",
"Pages with entries",
"Requests for gender in Cimbrian entries",
"Rhymes:English/æf",
"Rhymes:English/æf/1 syllable",
"Terms with Dutch translations",
"Terms with Polish translations",
"cim:Flowers",
"cim:Lily family plants",
"cim:Occupations",
"cim:People",
"cim:Religion"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "faff about"
},
{
"word": "faff around"
},
{
"word": "faffer"
},
{
"word": "faffery"
},
{
"word": "faff on"
}
],
"etymology_text": "From a dialect word meaning \"blow in gusts\".",
"forms": [
{
"form": "faffs",
"tags": [
"present",
"singular",
"third-person"
]
},
{
"form": "faffing",
"tags": [
"participle",
"present"
]
},
{
"form": "faffed",
"tags": [
"participle",
"past"
]
},
{
"form": "faffed",
"tags": [
"past"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "faff (third-person singular simple present faffs, present participle faffing, simple past and past participle faffed)",
"name": "en-verb"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "verb",
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"Australian English",
"British English",
"English terms with quotations",
"Irish English",
"New Zealand English",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "2009, Steven Aitchison, 100 Ways to Develop Your Mind, page 131:",
"text": "Stop Faffing And Just Do It",
"type": "quote"
}
],
"glosses": [
"To waste time on an unproductive activity."
],
"links": [
[
"waste time",
"waste time"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(British, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand) To waste time on an unproductive activity."
],
"synonyms": [
{
"word": "arse around"
},
{
"english": "American",
"word": "dick around"
}
],
"tags": [
"Australia",
"British",
"Ireland",
"New-Zealand"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/fæf/"
},
{
"audio": "En-au-faff.ogg",
"mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/4/4a/En-au-faff.ogg/En-au-faff.ogg.mp3",
"ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4a/En-au-faff.ogg"
},
{
"rhymes": "-æf"
}
],
"word": "faff"
}
Download raw JSONL data for faff meaning in English (5.6kB)
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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.