snafu
/snæˈfu/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.54 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
A confused, muddled, or messed-up condition or state; a ridiculously chaotic situation; confusion or chaos regarded as the normal state.
phrase
Alternative letter-case form of SNAFU.
noun
Alternative letter-case form of SNAFU.
noun
a satirical purposefully low-quality rendition of an internet meme
Example Sentences
- "2007, Susan Glairon, Paperwork SNAFU, The Daily Times-Call, LongmontFYI Because of a paperwork snafu, he also hasn’t been able to get his Army discharge papers and is still listed as an active-duty soldier…"
- "There's plenty of time for dating later on—look at Janet Reno. Okay, don’t look at Janet Reno. However, assuming that you are seeking romance (and that a cigar is just a cigar), your best bet is to warn would-be companions of potential scheduling snafus ahead of time."
- "Tesla’s first decade was plagued by unmet deadlines, technical snafus and cost overruns."
- "Generally I just catch the main event; but this night the prelims were snafued and the last bout was going on when I checked in."
Etymology
The term was born during the Second World War as an acronym of the initials of the words situation normal, all fucked up, which summed up the chaos and confusion of the war from an individual soldier’s point of view.
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /snæˈfu/
- British English: /snæˈfuː/
Usage
Inflected Forms
Phrases
Private Snafu
by Frank Capra in 1942. The stories were written by Theodor Geisel