faff.
An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time.
Meaning & usage
An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time.
Adjusting this television is a bit of a faff.
A state of confused or frantic activity.
She's in a total faff about tonight's dinner party.
A puff of smoke; a gust of wind.
Where this word comes from
Originally imitative of wind or puffs of air (see verb senses "to blow in puffs", "to move with a puff of air"). The noun is formed from the verb by conversion.
To blow in puffs, blow gently.
To move (something) with a puff of air, to blow away.
To waste time on an unproductive activity.
Where this word comes from
Originally imitative of wind or puffs of air (see verb senses "to blow in puffs", "to move with a puff of air"). The noun is formed from the verb by conversion.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.