1
as in tricking
to cause to believe what is untrue
a sleazy schemer who gaffed gullible people into thinking they could get rich with a money-making opportunity
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in squeezing
to rob by the use of trickery or threats
the operators of the traveling carnival had gaffed patrons with a variety of time-honored ruses
Synonyms & Similar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for gaffing
Verb
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Ukraine orchestrated a fake hit on one of Russia's enemies who has fought alongside Ukrainian forces, tricking the Kremlin into paying out a $500,000 bounty Kyiv used to fund its war effort.—
Louis Casiano, FOXNews.com, 2 Jan. 2026
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To pull off his human heist, Mendez must develop and try to sell a Star Wars-esque sci-fi film, in the hopes of tricking the Iranians into believing the American hostages are part of a Canadian film crew.—
Verb
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The Bagail 6-piece Compression Packing Cube Set is just $19 and a game-changer for squeezing extra outfits into a carry-on.—
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To check for ripeness, start by squeezing the fruit—ripe mangos should give slightly under pressure without feeling overly soft or mushy.—
Verb
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Early reports indicate that kids are fooling the age-recognition software with sophisticated techniques such as drawing on facial hair and substituting celebrity photos for their own.—
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Anyone who thinks that this is an issue that could have been solved by nominating a couple more Spider-Man movies is fooling themselves.—
Verb
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Contessa’s Corner Sports leagues, state gambling regulators and tribal leaders have all raised concerns that prediction market trades on sports don’t have the same level of guardrails as sportsbooks to protect against cheating by athletes, referees, coaches and other insiders.—
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The predictions were that unleashing AI to the world at large would lead to an exponential rise in cheating at school and that student essays would cease to be original.—
Verb
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Relying Too Much On Garbage Disposals Though the name may be deceiving, garbage disposals aren’t actually designed to dispose of all garbage.—
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That level of eye-deceiving detail falters in wide shots, however, some of which suffer from unflattering flat lighting that in certain instances recall computer screensavers of yore, given their colorful artificiality.—
Verb
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Regime change, as it has been practiced and discussed in international politics, refers to something far more ambitious and far more consequential than plucking out a single leader.—
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Regime change, as it has been practiced and discussed in international politics, refers to something far more ambitious and far more consequential than plucking out a single leader.—
Verb
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Viewers see painful flashbacks throughout the show of classmates teasing Kelly about being overweight and daring her to drink urine.—
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On Wednesday, Duff ramped up the anticipation for her new album, teasing a new song about dive bar hookups, inconvenient roommates, and a once-red-hot romance fizzling into the tombs of relationship graveyards.—
Verb
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Students were hustling around campus, coming and going on the penultimate Saturday of the semester.—
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The bubbling party scene in New York City was indeed a movie, and Puffy was hustling his way into the leading role.—
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Cite this Entry
“Gaffing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/gaffing. Accessed 13 Jan. 2026.
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