tiff
Language: English
Part of speech: noun
Pronunciation: ipa: /tɪf/
rhymes: -ɪf
Forms: form: tiffs
Etymology: The origin of the noun is unknown; it is possibly originally dialectal and may be onomatopoeic, representing the sound of a small puff of air or gas. The verb is derived from the noun.
Senses: examples: text: My Lord and I have had another little—Tiff, ſhall I call it? It came not up to a quarrel. Married people vvould have enough to do, if they vvere to trouble their friends every time they miſunderſtood one another.
ref: 1753 (indicated as 1754), [Samuel Richardson], “Letter XV. Lady G[randison] to Miss Byron.”, in The History of Sir Charles Grandison. […], volume IV, London: […] S[amuel] Richardson; [a]nd sold by C. Hitch and L. Hawes, […], →OCLC, page 94:
text: There's Tom, now, since this tiff with Mrs. Cat, the scoundrel plays the Grand Turk here!
ref: 1839 May – 1840 February, Ikey Solomons, Jun. [pseudonym; William Makepeace Thackeray], “Catherine: A Story. Chapter the Last.”, in Catherine: A Story. Little Travels. The Fitz-Boodle Papers. etc. etc. (Works of William Makepeace Thackeray in Twenty-four Volumes; 22), London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], published 1869, →OCLC, page 157:
text: [T]he blithe young couple were a pleasant sight to see, as they twirled merrily round and round, feeling more friendly than ever after their small tiff.
ref: 1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Meg goes to Vanity Fair”, in Little Women: […], 1st part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1869, →OCLC, page 139:
text: I had lived with her all this time, unaware how much she hated these things. In themselves they were trivial. Stupid. Something to laugh off, not make a big issue out of. We'd had a little tiff and would have forgotten about it in a couple of days.
ref: 1997, Haruki Murakami, “Full Moon and Eclipse of the Sun: On Horses Dying in the Stables”, in Jay Rubin, transl., The Wind-up Bird Chronicle […], London: Harvill Secker, published 2010, →ISBN, page 30:
text: Lovers' tiffs are very amusing in that new lovers expect their little universe to be 100% perfect. […] At the other extreme, couples who are married with children have heavily disguised tiffs. A man saying in a slightly strained way, 'I'm going to turn the compost', is actually saying, 'And that's all you are, Jean, compost!' Of course, what happens is eventually he apologises, they cry, make love, have another child, get overtired and the tiffing continues.
ref: 2000 September 29, Guy Browning, “How to … have a tiff”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 02 Sep 2025:
text: "About a week ago we were sitting outside a restaurant having an intense debate about the children, and I held Nigella [Lawson]'s neck repeatedly while attempting to emphasise my point," he said. "There was no grip, it was a playful tiff. The pictures are horrific but give a far more drastic and violent impression of what took place.[…]"
ref: 2013 June 18, Alexandra Topping, Ben Quinn, quoting Charles Saatchi, “Charles Saatchi: accepting police caution was better than the alternative”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 26 Mar 2024:
text: These were the days before Elon Musk's tiff with a Delaware judge raised the prospect of the federalization of corporate law.
ref: 2024 December 10, Ronald Mann, “Case Preview: Federal Trademark Law and Doctrines of Corporate Identity”, in SCOTUSblog, archived from the original on 19 Jun 2025:
synonyms: tift
glosses: A (generally small) argument or disagreement; a petty quarrel, a spat.
examples: text: [A]s if / Returning homevvards in a furious Tiff; / Your Hoſt declares, he's ſorry at his Heart, / And humbly acts the penitential Part.
ref: 1739, Friderick Dedekindus [i.e., Friedrich Dedekind], chapter I, in Roger Bull [pseudonym], transl., Grobianus; or, The Compleat Booby. An Ironical Poem. […], London: […] T. Cooper, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 102:
text: Wilhelmina […] answered his romances and him with tiffs of laughter, in a prettily fleeting manner.
ref: 1858, Thomas Carlyle, “England Sends the Excellency Hotham to Berlin”, in History of Friedrich II. of Prussia, Called Frederick the Great, volume II, London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, book VII, pages 148–149:
glosses: A brief outburst or period of bad temper; a snit; also (rare) any brief outburst (for example, of laughter).
Derived terms: word: lovers' tiff
word: tiffish
word: tiffy
word: tift