Word.ws English Dictionary

tiff

/tɪf//tɪf/

tiff noun: a (generally small) argument or disagreement; a petty quarrel, a spat. Also the alternative letter-case form of TIFF.

Noun (1)

tiff (plural tiffs)

  1. (informal) A (generally small) argument or disagreement; a petty quarrel, a spat.
    • 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.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....
    • There's Tom, now, since this tiff with Mrs. Cat, the scoundrel plays the Grand Turk here!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....
    Synonyms:
    tift, miff
  2. (archaic, informal) A brief outburst or period of bad temper; a snit; also (rare) any brief outburst (for example, of laughter).
    • [A]s if / Returning homevvards in a furious Tiff; / Your Hoſt declares, he's ſorry at his Heart, / And humbly acts the penitential Part.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...
    • Wilhelmina […] answered his romances and him with tiffs of laughter, in a prettily fleeting manner.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...

Verb (1)

tiff (third-person singular simple present tiffs, present participle tiffing, simple past and past participle tiffed)

  1. (informal, intransitive) To be involved in a (generally small) argument or disagreement; to squabble.
    • I very much indeed approve / Of maidens moderating love / Until they've twenty pounds; / […] / Until the twenty pounds were safe, / She tiff'd at Tim, she ran from Ralph, / Squire nodded … deuce a curtsy!1846, Walter Savage Landor, “[Miscellaneous.] [Poem] CCXLII. New Style.”, in The Works of Walter Savage Landor. […], volume II, London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 660, column 2
    • Poor Newton! he little knew to what he owed that glance. The fact is, the Captain was late, and Miss Bowers tiffed.1859, Francis Francis, “Music, Lights, and Ladies”, in Newton Dogvane. A Story of English Country Life. […], volume I, London: Hurst and Blackett, publishers, successors to Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC...

Verb (2)

tiff (third-person singular simple present tiffs, present participle tiffing, simple past and past participle tiffed)

  1. (British, India, informal, intransitive) Synonym of tiffin (“to eat a (light) midday meal or snack; to have lunch, to lunch”).
    • Besides that one to which the permanent residence was attached, Mr. Augustus had several outlaying factories, which he visited from time to time, to superintend the manufacture of his indigo; at all of these he had little bungalows, or temporary abodes, where we tiffed and passed the heat of the...1841 September–December, Captain [Henry Walter?] Bellew, “Memoirs of a Griffin. Chapter XIV.”, in The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australasia...
    • Go home, Jack. I will tiff with you to-day at half-past two.1859, John Lang, “The Himalaya Club”, in Wanderings in India: And Other Sketches of Life in Hindostan, London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, Warne, and Routledge, […], →OCLC, page 16
    Synonyms:
    tiffin

Noun (2)

tiff (countable and uncountable, plural tiffs)

  1. (archaic, countable, informal, obsolete, slang) A small draught or sip of liquor (especially diluted or poor quality liquor) or punch.
    • Come, Captain, let not your noble Courage be caſt dovvn; vvhat ſay you to a Glaſs of vvhite VVine, or a Tiff of Punch, by VVay of VVhet?1751 December (indicated as 1752), Henry Fielding, “In which are Many Profound Secrets of Philosophy”, in Amelia, volume III, London: […] [William Strahan] for A[ndrew] Millar […], →OCLC, book VIII...
    • "Good wife," said Skriegh, gathering up his mouth, and sipping his tiff of brandy punch with great solemnity […]1815 February 24, [Walter Scott], chapter XI, in Guy Mannering; or, The Astrologer. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] James Ballantyne and Co. for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […]; and...
    Synonyms:
    tift, whiff
  2. (archaic, informal, obsolete, slang, uncountable) Liquor, especially diluted or poor quality liquor.
    • By dint of drinking acid tiff, as above mentioned, and smoking segars, in which I am no novice, my Public are to be informed, that I gradually drank and smoked myself into a certain degree of acquaintance with un homme comme il faut [a proper man], one of the few fine old specimens of nobility who...1823, [Walter Scott], “Introduction”, in Quentin Durward. […], volume I, Edinburgh: […] [James Ballantyne and Co.] for Archibald Constable and Co.; London: Hurst, Robinson, and Co., →OCLC, page xiii
    Synonyms:
    tift

Verb (3)

tiff (third-person singular simple present tiffs, present participle tiffing, simple past and past participle tiffed)

  1. (archaic, informal, obsolete, slang, transitive) To drink (liquor), especially slowly or in small amounts; to sip.
    • Nor did the Doctor fail to go / To the bright region of the Row; / There tiff'd his punch and talk'd and smok'd, / Was sometimes grave and sometimes jok'd; […]1821, [William Combe], “Canto XXXVII”, in The Third Tour of Doctor Syntax, in Search of a Wife, a Poem, London: R[udolph] Ackermann’s Repository of Arts, […], →OCLC, page 244

Verb (4)

tiff (third-person singular simple present tiffs, present participle tiffing, simple past and past participle tiffed)

  1. (archaic, informal, obsolete, reflexive, slang, transitive) To deck out or dress (someone or oneself, or their body or hair).
    • Is the Miſs under a force vvhen ſhe culls among her trinkets vvith curious toil to tiff herſelf out in the most engaging manner, or teazes pappa for money to buy a nevv-faſhioned ſilk?1763, Edward Search [pseudonym; Abraham Tucker], “Freewill, Foreknowledge, and Fate. A Fragment.”, in [The Light of Nature Pursued], London: […] R[obert] and James Dodsley, […], →OCLC, §. 21, page 98
  2. (archaic, informal, intransitive, obsolete, slang) To deck out or dress one's body or hair.
    • I never pin up my Hair vvith Proſe. I fancy ones Hair vvou'd not curl if it vvere pinn'd up vvith Proſe. […] Ay, poor Mincing tift and tift all the morning.1700, [William] Congreve, The Way of the World, a Comedy. […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC, Act II, pages 26–27

Noun (3)

tiff (plural tiffs)

  1. (archaic, informal, obsolete, rare, slang) The way in which one's body or hair is decked out or dressed.
    • Did you mark the beau Tiff of his VVig, vvhat a deal of Pains he took to toſs it back, vvhen the very VVeight thereof vvas like to dravv him from his Seat?1703, “The Levellers: A Dialogue between Two Young Ladies, Concerning Matrimony, […]”, in Samuel Johnson, William Oldys, editors, The Harleian Miscellany: […], volume V, London: […] T[homas] Osborne...
    Synonyms:
    getup, outfit

Proper noun (1) capitalized: TIFF

TIFF

  1. (abbreviation, acronym, computer graphics file format) Acronym of tagged image file format.

Noun (4) capitalized: TIFF

TIFF (plural TIFFs)

  1. An image stored in the TIFF format.
    Synonyms:
    tif
  2. A file using TIFF file format
    Synonyms:
    .tif, .tiff

Proper noun (2) capitalized: Tiff

Tiff (plural Tiffs)

  1. A diminutive of the female given name Tiffany.

Noun (5) capitalized: Tiff

Tiff (plural Tiffs)

  1. (alternative) Alternative form of TIFF.

Also used as

tiff is also the alternative letter-case form of TIFF.

tiff meaning in Hindi, Urdu, Bengali and Telugu

tiff in Hindi

टिफ़

tiff in Urdu

ٹیف

tiff in Bengali

টিফ

tiff in Telugu

టిఫ్
More languagesFewer languages
tiff in Malayalam
ടിഫ്, ടിഫ് ചെയ്യാൻ
tiff in Kannada
ಟಿಫ್
tiff in Punjabi
ਟਿੱਫ, ਟਿੱਫ਼, ਟਿੱਫ ਕਰਨ ਲਈ
tiff in Gujarati
ટીફ
tiff in Odia
ଟିଫ୍
tiff in Nepali
टिफ, टिफ गर्न

Examples of tiff in a sentence

  • [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.1868, Louisa M[ay] Alcott, “Meg goes to Vanity Fair”, in Little Women: […], 1st part, Boston, Mass.: Roberts Brothers, published 1869...
  • We'd had a little tiff and would have forgotten about it in a couple of days.1997, Haruki Murakami, “Full Moon and Eclipse of the Sun: On Horses Dying in the Stables”, in Jay Rubin, transl., The Wind-up Bird...
  • 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.2000 September 29, Guy Browning, “How to … have a tiff”, in Alan Rusbridger, editor, The Guardian, London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN...
  • "There was no grip, it was a playful tiff.2013 June 18, Alexandra Topping, Ben Quinn, quoting Charles Saatchi, “Charles Saatchi: accepting police caution was better than the...

Synonyms of tiff

9 more synonymsFewer synonyms

All synonyms of tiff

Forms of tiff

Noun
pluraltiffs
pluralTIFFs
pluralTiffs
Verb
third-person singular presenttiffs
present participletiffing
past participletiffed
pasttiffed

Origin of tiff

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.

See TIFF.

Probably a back-formation from or clipping of tiff(in) (“(light) midday meal or snack, luncheon”).

Words formed from tiff

Words that rhyme with tiff

28 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about tiff

What does tiff mean?
Tiff means a (generally small) argument or disagreement; a petty quarrel, a spat.
What is tiff in Hindi?
Tiff in Hindi is टिफ़. See Tiff meaning in Hindi.
How do you use tiff in a sentence?
[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.
What part of speech is tiff?
Tiff can be a noun, a verb or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce tiff?
Tiff is pronounced /tɪf/ (UK).
What is the plural of tiff?
The plural of tiff is tiffs.

Words near tiff in the dictionary

  1. tiezing
  2. tif
  3. tifaifai
  4. Tifal
  5. tifemoxone
  6. tiff
  7. Tiffan
  8. Tiffani
  9. Tiffanian
  10. Tiffanie
  11. tiffanies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: tiff (page history and authors); TIFF (page history and authors); Tiff (page history and authors); tiff (Hindi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Bengali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); tiff (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-tiff.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Naomi Persephone Amethyst (NaomiAmethyst)-tiff.wav.

Cite this entry: “tiff.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tiff. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.