Meanings
- derogatoryhumorousslanguncountableusuallylifestyleLow-quality science fiction.
Many of the best new writers seem openly ashamed of their backward Skiffy nationality.
1989 July, Bruce Sterling, SF Eye, number 5, page 772 more examples
The science fiction reader sneers at fake SF, artificially produced film tie-in novels and stories, most SF films, most TV SF. This he calls sci-fi (or "skiffy")—junk no right-thinking omnivore or chronic should read, watch, or support.
1984, David Hartwell, “The Golden Age of Science Fiction is Twelve”, in Age of Wonders, →ISBN, page 13Around 1978 the critic Susan Wood and others began pronouncing the term "skiffy". In 1980s-1990s usage "skiffy", which sounds friendlier than "sci fi", has perhaps for that reason come to be less condemnatory. Skiffy is colourful, sometimes entertaining, junk sf: Star Wars is skiffy.
1993, Peter Nicholls, The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, →ISBN, page 1079
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
A phonetic spelling of sci-fi to convey its deliberate mispronunciation (with "sc" being read as /sk/ and "i" being read as short vowel /i/ instead of diphthong /aɪ/).
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with skiffy
All rhymes →Cite this entry
skiffy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skiffy
“skiffy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skiffy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “skiffy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/skiffy.
Source: skiffy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.