kaffir
/ˈkæfɚ/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: 2.31 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
6
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A language spoken by the Nguni peoples of southern Africa, especially Xhosa.
Offensive; Uncountable
noun
Alternative letter-case form of kaffir.
Example Sentences
- "He […] put me in imminent danger of my life, by telling the natives that I was a Caffer, and not a Mussulman."
- "… the Hambonaas, a nation quite different from the Kaffers, having a yellowish complexion […]."
- "I rang the bell, and a smiling Kafir boy answered it."
- "If you ask a Kaffir why he does so-and-so, he will answer—"How can I tell? It has always been done by our forefathers.""
- "I once heard him say to the gardener, 'Come along, son.' His wife scolded him saying, 'He's not son, don't call him son, he's a kaffir.'"
- ""… and today here a white man is calling me a kaffir. This term that I absolutely resented." And that, says Nofomela, is his political motive."
Etymology
Origin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkæfɚ/
- British English: /ˈkæfə/
Usage
Inflected Forms
kaffirs (plural)
Caffer (alternative)
caffre (alternative)
kaffer (alternative)
Kaffre (alternative)
kafir (alternative)
kaphar (alternative)
kaphir (alternative)
kafari (alternative)
coffery (alternative, obsolete)
coffree (alternative, obsolete)
coffry (alternative, obsolete)