as in debris
discarded or useless material
there's a lot of chaff in this book, and the reader should be on the alert for it
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in laugh
good-natured teasing or exchanging of clever remarks
I got no end of chaff about my accent when I was in the military
Synonyms & Similar Words
1
as in to tease
to make fun of in a good-natured way
chaffed her about the brightly colored shirt she had received as a gift
Synonyms & Similar Words
2
as in to joke
to make jokes
a coworker who likes to chaff at others' expense, and this often results in hurt feelings
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of chaff
Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
These preambles separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of Maron’s fans, though, which is the wheat and which is the chaff in skipping in the intros versus listening to them remains to be seen.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 2 June 2025
In other words, nearly nine-tenths of all primetime impressions were chaff.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 May 2025
In French air force service, the Mirage 2000-5F flies with a combination of a Serval radar warning receiver, a Sabre jammer and an Eclair chaff and flare dispenser.
—David Axe, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chaff
Noun
Visitors can see the operations of the thresher and the simple mechanics used to separate grain from chaff.
—Michelle Mullins, Chicago Tribune, 13 June 2025
These preambles separate the wheat from the chaff in terms of Maron’s fans, though, which is the wheat and which is the chaff in skipping in the intros versus listening to them remains to be seen.
—Fran Hoepfner, Vulture, 2 June 2025
In other words, nearly nine-tenths of all primetime impressions were chaff.
—Anthony Crupi, Sportico.com, 29 May 2025
In French air force service, the Mirage 2000-5F flies with a combination of a Serval radar warning receiver, a Sabre jammer and an Eclair chaff and flare dispenser.
—David Axe, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for chaff
Recent Examples of Synonyms for chaff
Verb
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As of Tuesday night, South Park’s X account still hasn’t teased any hints of what Episode 5 will be about, something the show has done consistently before the previous three episodes.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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Cardi teased on Today about the follow-up to her smash 2018 debut LP, Invasion of Privacy.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
16 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Coon also joked that with so much time adapting the elaborate costumes, her daughter, born in the summer of 2021, thought that her mom's on-set dresser, Brian, was her father.—
Avalon Hester,
PEOPLE,
12 Sep. 2025
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My wife jokes about the cat having foiled our murder plot yet again.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
12 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Pat Kelsey wasn't kidding about wanting the smoke.—
Leo Bertucci,
The Courier-Journal,
2 Sep. 2025
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In 2019, Lebanese depositors discovered that their banking system had, in effect, just been kidding about those savings accounts.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Dry cooking such as roasting, air fry, baking or a bit of steam is perfect.—
Sheah Rarback,
Miami Herald,
18 Sep. 2025
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Continue reading … CURTAIN CALL – 'Hacks' star's 'inflammatory' Emmy comments roasted by fellow actors.—
,
FOXNews.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Your press release isn’t fooling anyone.—
Roberta Matuson,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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Replacing Nina with a woman who has the same initials as her is not going to fool us!—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
12 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Chaff.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/chaff. Accessed 19 Sep. 2025.
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