tiff
/tɪf/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.03 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
1
Syllables
3
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A brief outburst or period of bad temper; a snit; also (rare) any brief outburst (for example, of laughter).
Archaic; Informal
verb
To be involved in a (generally small) argument or disagreement; to squabble.
Informal; Intransitive verb
verb
Synonym of tiffin (“to eat a (light) midday meal or snack; to have lunch, to lunch”).
Indian usage; Informal; Intransitive verb
noun
A small draught or sip of liquor (especially diluted or poor quality liquor) or punch.
Archaic; Countable; Informal; Obsolete; Slang
Example Sentences
- "My Lord and I have had another little—Tiff, ſhall I call it? It came not up to a quarrel. Married people vvould have enough to do, if they vvere to trouble their friends every time they miſunderſtood one another."
- "There's Tom, now, since this tiff with Mrs. Cat, the scoundrel plays the Grand Turk here!"
- "[T]he blithe young couple were a pleasant sight to see, as they twirled merrily round and round, feeling more friendly than ever after their small tiff."
- "I had lived with her all this time, unaware how much she hated these things. In themselves they were trivial. Stupid. Something to laugh off, not make a big issue out of. We'd had a little tiff and would have forgotten about it in a couple of days."
- "Lovers' tiffs are very amusing in that new lovers expect their little universe to be 100% perfect. […] At the other extreme, couples who are married with children have heavily disguised tiffs. A man saying in a slightly strained way, 'I'm going to turn the compost', is actually saying, 'And that's all you are, Jean, compost!' Of course, what happens is eventually he apologises, they cry, make love, have another child, get overtired and the tiffing continues."
- ""About a week ago we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella [Lawson]'s neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point," he said. "There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place.[…]""
Etymology
The origin of the noun is unknown; it is possibly originally dialectal and may be onomatopoeic, representing the sound of a small puff of air or gas. The verb is derived from the noun.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: tiffen, tifer, *tipfōn
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /tɪf/
- British English: /tɪf/