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naff

English

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naff¹

  • /næf/

Rhymes with -æf

Where it comes from

Perhaps from Polari, 1960s. Further etymology unknown; perhaps a conscious corruption of either fanny or eff (off) (see naff off).

adjective naffer · naffest

  1. Commonwealth, Ireland, Polari, UK, colloquial Bad; tasteless, poorly thought out, not workable; tacky. That tie is a bit naff, don’t you think?
  2. Polari Heterosexual. The omie was a veritable donkey beneath the waistband, darlings. A donkey! No wonder your boss-palone is so smitten. I've seen my share, dollies, but this old omiepalone was shaken to the core. Such a terrible waste on a naff bloke.

Naff²

Where it comes from

South German and Alemannic German surname (Näff), variant of Neff.

proper noun

  1. An English surname.

Translations

Every language

adj in poor taste, not workable

Русскийотстойный otstojnyj, по́шлый póšlyj

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Cite this
MLA

"naff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/naff. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

naff. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/naff

Chicago

"naff." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/naff.

BibTeX
@misc{naff_2026,
  title = {naff},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/naff},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}