gaffer

Other forms of gaffer

plural

gaffers·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about gaffer

What does gaffer mean?

gaffer means "an elderly man". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in gaffer?

gaffer has 2 syllables and divides as gaf-fer under the regular spelling rules. It is not in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, so that comes from how the word is written rather than from a recorded pronunciation, and no stress or phonetic transcription is claimed for it.

What is another word for gaffer?

Close synonyms include old-timer, oldtimer, old geezer, antique, foreman. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

Is gaffer a common word?

gaffer is banded "Uncommon" — turns up in careful writing rather than conversation. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.