gaffer

1. 1.

   an elderly man

   Synonymsold-timeroldtimerold geezerantique

   Broaderold man
2. 2.

   an electrician responsible for lighting on a movie or tv set

   Broaderelectrician
3. 3.

   a person who exercises control over workers

   “if you want to leave early you have to ask the foreman”

   Synonymsforemanchiefhonchoboss

   Broadersupervisor

   Narrowerbaasgangerstraw boss

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: gaf-fer. The stress falls on "gaf".

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.