Etymology Originally imitative of wind or puffs of air (see verb senses "to blow in puffs", "to move with a puff of air"). The noun is formed from the verb by conversion.
God it must be a faff having to get nigh-on naked every time your bladder runneth over, and imagine how much worse it must be if you only have a 20-second break to run off stage to the loo.2007 November 27, Hadley Freeman, “Miaow!”, in The Guardian:
3 more examples
Breakfast in bed at the royal household is a massive faff. A page boy must carry the tray upstairs, but he's banned from actually serving it. So he leaves it on the floor by the bedroom door, whereupon a housemaid picks it up and knocks on said portal.2011, Patrick Kingsley, “Life with the Queen Mum revealed”, in The Guardian:
The fuss and faff meant Christmas had long since been drained of any joy and excitement.2017, Andi Watson, Glister, →ISBN:
The show is a carefully curated manifesto of “social success without faff”.2023 September 23, Tim Hayward, “Not so easy does it”, in FT Weekend (Life & Arts section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 19:
2
A state of confused or frantic activity.
Typically 'in a faff'
She's in a total faff about tonight's dinner party.
I knew May would be in a faff, and I was right. […] Half an hour later (still with plenty of time because I’d known there would be this fuss) we left with May clad in black.2010, Margaret Forster, Isa & May, page 38:
“Shut t’ door, wilt-tu,” said Widow Goggin sharply; “thou’rt letting in faffs o’ wind. And tak’ thi shawl off.”1900, Emma Frances Brooke, The Engrafted Rose: A Novel, page 27:
faff
verb
Etymology Originally imitative of wind or puffs of air (see verb senses "to blow in puffs", "to move with a puff of air"). The noun is formed from the verb by conversion.
Archaic To move (something) with a puff of air, to blow away.
Time wi’ his scythe hed mawn t’crop on his heead, An’ then fafft it away wi’ his wing.1949, W.J. Halliday, Arthur Stanley Umpleby, The White Rose Garland, page 104:
Stop Faffing And Just Do It2009, Steven Aitchison, 100 Ways to Develop Your Mind, page 131:
Frontier knows you're going to be spending a lot of time building coasters and faffing with scenery, so it doesn't want you fighting fires constantly.2025 February 23, Rick Lane, “Review: Planet Coaster 2”, in PC Gamer (US), number 392, page 69; published online 1 November 2024: