kerfuffle
noun
J. K. RowlingBelinda Luscombe
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The Evolution of Kerfuffle
Fuffle is an old Scottish verb that means “to muss” or “to throw into disarray”—in other words, to (literally) ruffle someone’s (figurative) feathers. The addition of car-, possibly from a Scottish Gaelic word meaning “wrong” or “awkward,” didn’t change its meaning much. In the 19th century carfuffle, with its variant curfuffle, became a noun, which in the 20th century was embraced by a broader population of English speakers and standardized to kerfuffle, referring to a more figurative feather-ruffling. There is some kerfuffle among language historians over how the altered spelling came to be favored. One theory holds that it might have been influenced by onomatopoeic words like kerplunk that imitate the sound of a falling object hitting a surface.
Examples of kerfuffle in a Sentence
Jon O'Brien, IndieWire, 16 Apr. 2025
Wallen managed to get through almost all of March 29’s episode of SNL, hosted by Mikey Madison, without a big kerfuffle.
—Bethy Squires, Vulture, 30 Mar. 2025
The implications in this case go beyond a neighborhood kerfuffle: For decades, college campuses and public streets have been critical venues for protest — and increasingly, the institutions that control them are limiting access to quell demonstrations.
—Karsten Moran, New York Times, 27 Mar. 2025
This was followed shortly by the news that, actually Kevin Hart would host, but a PR kerfuffle over the comedian’s history of anti-gay jokes ended with Hart dropping out, and the show going host-less.
—Zach Schonfeld, Vulture, 26 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for kerfuffle
Cite this Entry
“Kerfuffle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/kerfuffle. Accessed 29 Apr. 2025.
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