Standard Lemma guide

TERF

noun · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • General-American: /tɝf/
  • Australian, Received-Pronunciation: /tɜːf/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Scotland: /tɛɾf/
  • New-Zealand, Wales: /tøːf/
  • /teːf/ Liverpool, fair–fur merger
  • /tɛːf/ Humberside, Teesside, fair–fur merger
  • homophone: turf (fern–fir–fur merger)
  • rhymes with -ɜː(ɹ)f

1

noun

Meaning 1

A trans-exclusionary radical feminist; a radical feminist who does not consider trans women to be women, or thinks they should not be included in female spaces or organisations, and who considers trans men to be women; a person whose transphobia is expressed in feminist terms.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: FART, GC, GCF, gendercrit, gendercritter, terven

Antonyms: TIRF, transfeminist

2

noun

Meaning 2

Abbreviation of telomeric repeat-binding factor.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable

Topics: sciences

Examples

  • TERF1, TERF2

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

Abbreviation of terrain flight (“flight close to the ground, to avoid enemy detection or fire”).

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: US, abbreviation, alt-of, countable, uncountable

Topics: government, military, politics, war

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

Rare spelling of taraf.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of, rare

Examples

  • For quotations using this term, see Citations:terf.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

5

noun

Meaning 5

Alternative letter-case form of TERF.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: alt-of

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Acronym of trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The earliest recorded use is from 2008 by trans-inclusive cisgender radical feminist Viv Smythe.

Abbreviation.

Across languages

Translations

3 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • French: TERF — trans-exclusionary radical feminist
  • Spanish: TERF — trans-exclusionary radical feminist
  • Spanish: terfa — trans-exclusionary radical feminist