snafu

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SNAFU¹

  • /snæˈfuː/ UK
  • /ˈsnæfuː/ UK
  • /snæˈfu/ US
  • /ˈsnæfu/ US

Rhymes with -uː, -ɑːfuː

Where it comes from

The term was born during the Second World War as an acronym of the initials of the words situation normal, all fucked up, which summed up the chaos and confusion of the war from an individual soldier’s point of view.

phrase snafu

  1. abbreviation, acronym, euphemistic, slang Acronym of situation normal, all fucked up /situation normal, all fouled up.

noun SNAFUs · snafu

  1. A confused, muddled, or messed-up condition or state; a ridiculously chaotic situation; confusion or chaos regarded as the normal state.
  2. A major glitch or breakdown; a mistake or blunder. 2007, Susan Glairon, Paperwork SNAFU, The Daily Times-Call, LongmontFYI Because of a paperwork snafu, he also hasn’t been able to get his Army discharge papers and is still listed as an active-duty soldier…

snafu²

phrase

  1. Alternative letter-case form of SNAFU

noun snafus

  1. Alternative letter-case form of SNAFU There's plenty of time for dating later on—look at Janet Reno. Okay, don’t look at Janet Reno. However, assuming that you are seeking romance (and that a cigar is just a cigar), your best bet is to warn would-be companions of potential scheduling snafus ahead of time.
  2. Internet a satirical purposefully low-quality rendition of an internet meme

verb snafus · snafuing · snafued

  1. slang To screw up, fuck up, or foul up. Generally I just catch the main event; but this night the prelims were snafued and the last bout was going on when I checked in.

Translations

Every language

noun confused, muddled, or messed-up condition or state; ridiculously chaotic situation

Españolconfusión, caos
Françaisbordel, merdier
Deutschtanzendes Chaos, Chaos
Italianoputtanaio, troiaio, bordello, casino, macello, ginepraio
Русскийпу́таница pútanica, неразбери́ха nerazberíxa, барда́к bardák, ералаш jeralaš

noun major glitch or breakdown

DeutschPatzer
Русскийошибка ošibka, ляп ljap, косяк kosjak

noun Translations

Españolcaos
DeutschPanne, Chaos

verb screw up, fuck up, or foul up

Deutschverpatzen, versauen

Talk about this word

Cite this
MLA

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

APA

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

Chicago

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

BibTeX
@misc{snafu_2026,
  title = {snafu},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/snafu},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}