Pronunciations
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/fæf/
Noun
An overcomplicated task, especially one perceived as a waste of time.
Usage- Commonwealth usage
- Ireland
- UK usage
- Slang
- Examples
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Adjusting this television is a bit of a faff.
More examples (2)
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.
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.
The fuss and faff meant Christmas had long since been drained of any joy and excitement.
More examples (1)
The show is a carefully curated manifesto of “social success without faff”.
A state of confused or frantic activity.
- Synonyms
- Examples
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She's in a total faff about tonight's dinner party.
More examples (1)
I knew May would be in a faff, and I was right. […] Half an hour later (still with plenty of time because I’d known there would be this fuss) we left with May clad in black.
A puff of smoke; a gust of wind.
Usage- UK usage
- Obsolete
- Examples
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“Shut t’ door, wilt-tu,” said Widow Goggin sharply; “thou’rt letting in faffs o’ wind. And tak’ thi shawl off.”
Verb
To blow in puffs, blow gently.
Usage- Colloquial
- Intransitive
- of air
To move (something) with a puff of air, to blow away.
Usage- Archaic
- Transitive
- Examples
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Time wi’ his scythe hed mawn t’crop on his heead, An’ then fafft it away wi’ his wing.
To waste time on an unproductive activity.
Usage- Australia
- Ireland
- New-Zealand
- UK usage
- Intransitive
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Stop Faffing And Just Do It
Frontier knows you're going to be spending a lot of time building coasters and faffing with scenery, so it doesn't want you fighting fires constantly.