English Explanatory Dictionary

SNAFU

English dictionary entry

Meanings

phrase
  1. Acronym of situation normal, all fucked up /situation normal, all fouled up.
noun
  1. A confused, muddled, or messed-up condition or state; a ridiculously chaotic situation; confusion or chaos regarded as the normal state.
  2. A major glitch or breakdown; a mistake or blunder.
phrase
  1. Alternative letter-case form of SNAFU.
noun
  1. Alternative letter-case form of SNAFU.
verb
  1. To screw up, fuck up, or foul up.

Pronunciation

snă'fo͞o 'snăfo͞o /snæˈfuː/ /ˈsnæfuː/ En-uk-snafu.ogg /snæˈfu/ /ˈsnæfu/ en-us-SNAFU.ogg

Word forms

SNAFU SNAFUs snafuing snafued

Etymology

The term was born during the Second World War as an acronym of the initials of the words situation normal, all fucked up, which summed up the chaos and confusion of the war from an individual soldier’s point of view.

Related words

FUBAR Private Snafu by Frank Capra in 1942. The stories were written by Theodor Geisel
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