Meanings
cliff1
nouncliff (plural cliffs)
plural cliffs
- figurativelyA point beyond which something abruptly fails or decreases in value, performance, etc.
cliff2
nouncliff (plural cliffs)
plural cliffs
- obsoleteentertainmentObsolete form of clef.
Suppose a Person hath learnt to sing in the Treble Cliff only, and would sing Notes prick'd in the Tenor Cliff on the middle tine with F# […]
1723, John Harris, Lexicon Technicum
Cliff3
proper noun
- A diminutive of the male given name Clifford or Clifton.
- A surname.
- An unincorporated community and coal town in Floyd County, Kentucky, United States.
- A hamlet in North Warwickshire district, Warwickshire, England (OS grid ref SP2198).
- A neighbourhood, The Cliff, in the Metropolitan Borough of Salford, Greater Manchester, England (OS grid ref SD8201).
- A small settlement on the Isle of Lewis, Western Isles council area, Scotland, appearing on OS maps as Cliobh (OS grid ref NB0835).
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA vertical (or nearly vertical) rock face.
Similar
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
cliff · noun
- Proto-Germanic*klibą
- Proto-West Germanic*klib
- Old Englishclif
- Middle Englishclyf
- Englishcliff
From Middle English clyf, from Old English clif, from Proto-West Germanic *klib, from Proto-Germanic *klibą.
More words from Middle English, Old English, Proto-West Germanic
Full word history & related roots →Cliff · proper noun
The given name is from shortenings of the diminutives. The surname is from the noun cliff.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek κρημνός
- κρημνός (krēmnós)a (near) vertical rock face
Arabic جُرْف
- جُرْف (jurf)a (near) vertical rock face
Basque labar
- labara (near) vertical rock face
Bulgarian стръмна скала
- стръмна скала (strămna skala)a (near) vertical rock face
Catalan penya-segat
- penya-segata (near) vertical rock face
Chinese Cantonese 懸崖 /悬崖
- 懸崖 /悬崖 (jyun⁴ ngaai⁴)a (near) vertical rock face
Chinese Mandarin 峭壁, 懸崖 /悬崖
- 峭壁 (qiàobì)a (near) vertical rock face
- 懸崖 /悬崖 (xuányá, xuányái)a (near) vertical rock face
Czech útes
- útesa (near) vertical rock face
Danish klint
- klinta (near) vertical rock face
Dutch klip, klif
- klipa (near) vertical rock face
- klifa (near) vertical rock face
Esperanto krutaĵo, klifo
- krutaĵoa (near) vertical rock face
- klifoa (near) vertical rock face
Estonian kalju
- kaljua (near) vertical rock face
Finnish kalliojyrkänne, jyrkänne
- kalliojyrkännea (near) vertical rock face
- jyrkännea (near) vertical rock face
French falaise
- falaisea (near) vertical rock face
German Klippe, Felsen
- Klippea (near) vertical rock face
- Felsena (near) vertical rock face
Greek βουνοπλαγιά, κλιτύς
- βουνοπλαγιά (vounoplagiá)a (near) vertical rock face
- κλιτύς (klitýs)a (near) vertical rock face
- πρανές (pranés)a (near) vertical rock face
- γκρεμός (gkremós)a (near) vertical rock face
Hawaiian pali
- palia (near) vertical rock face
Hebrew צוק
- צוק (tsuq)a (near) vertical rock face
Hindi चट्टान
- चट्टान (caṭṭān)a (near) vertical rock face
Hungarian szirt
- szirta (near) vertical rock face
Icelandic klettur, berg
- klettura (near) vertical rock face
- berga (near) vertical rock face
- bjarga (near) vertical rock face
- hamara (near) vertical rock face
Indonesian tebing
- tebinga (near) vertical rock face
Irish aill
- ailla (near) vertical rock face
Italian rupe, scogliera
- rupea (near) vertical rock face
- scoglieraa (near) vertical rock face
- costonea (near) vertical rock face
- dirupoa (near) vertical rock face
- crinalea (near) vertical rock face
- falesiaa (near) vertical rock face
Japanese 崖
- 崖 (gake)a (near) vertical rock face
Korean 절벽, 벼랑
- 절벽 (jeolbyeok)a (near) vertical rock face
- 벼랑 (byeorang)a (near) vertical rock face
Latin rūpēs
- rūpēsa (near) vertical rock face
Latvian klints
- klintsa (near) vertical rock face
Lithuanian klifas
- klifasa (near) vertical rock face
Malay cenuram
- cenurama (near) vertical rock face
Norwegian Bokmål klippe
- klippea (near) vertical rock face
Persian پرتگاه
- پرتگاه (partgâh)a (near) vertical rock face
Polish klif
- klifa (near) vertical rock face
Portuguese penhasco, falésia
- penhascoa (near) vertical rock face
- falésiaa (near) vertical rock face
Romanian stâncă, faleză
- stâncăa (near) vertical rock face
- falezăa (near) vertical rock face
- pantăa (near) vertical rock face
Russian скала́, утёс
- скала́ (skalá)a (near) vertical rock face
- утёс (utjós)a (near) vertical rock face
- клиф (klif)a (near) vertical rock face
Scottish Gaelic creag
- creaga (near) vertical rock face
Slovak útes
- útesa (near) vertical rock face
Spanish acantilado, precipicio
- acantiladoa (near) vertical rock face
- precipicioa (near) vertical rock face
- riscoa (near) vertical rock face
- despeñaderoa (near) vertical rock face
Swedish klippa
- klippaa (near) vertical rock face
Tagalog dahilig, duminding
- dahiliga (near) vertical rock face
- dumindinga (near) vertical rock face
- dalisdisa (near) vertical rock face
- talampasa (near) vertical rock face
Tamil செங்குத்துப் பாறை
- செங்குத்துப் பாறை (ceṅkuttup pāṟai)a (near) vertical rock face
Thai ผา
- ผา (pǎa)a (near) vertical rock face
Turkish uçurum, yar
- uçuruma (near) vertical rock face
- yara (near) vertical rock face
- faleza (near) vertical rock face
Ukrainian ске́ля, кліф
- ске́ля (skélja)a (near) vertical rock face
- кліф (klif)a (near) vertical rock face
Vietnamese vách đá
- vách đáa (near) vertical rock face
Welsh clogwyn, dibyn
- clogwyna (near) vertical rock face
- dibyna (near) vertical rock face
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with cliff
ifdiffgifstiffzifftiffriffsniffglyphwifClifrifbiffsifskiffgriffwhiffkifspliffspiffgriffechiffmiffjiff
All rhymes →Cite this entry
APA
cliff. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliff
MLA
“cliff.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliff. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cliff,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliff.
Source: cliff on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.