keffiyeh

noun

kef·​fi·​yeh kə-ˈfē-ə How to pronounce keffiyeh (audio)
variants or less commonly kaffiyeh
: a checkered scarf traditionally worn as a head covering by some men in the Middle East
Yasser Arafat, who was the chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) from 1969 to 2004, helped popularize the keffiyeh around the world by almost always wearing one in public.—Abdallah Fayyad

Examples of keffiyeh in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Every punch thrown, every keffiyeh worn, every pro-antifa sign held was fodder for the right-wing echo chamber that feeds on images of universities in chaos and out of control. — Max Taves, Mercury News, 14 Nov. 2025 Several men in the group are wearing the traditional Palestinian headscarf, the keffiyeh. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 26 Feb. 2026 Northeastern Iraq — Piece by piece, the young man in a black and white scarf – a keffiyeh – takes apart his AK-47 assault rifle, placing them side-by-side on the rocky ground. — Ben Wedeman, CNN Money, 19 Jan. 2026 The campaign was formed after a German court ruled that Buchenwald could refuse entry to visitors who wear a Palestinian keffiyeh, which has been adopted by left-wing anti-Israel protesters. — Shira Li Bartov, Sun Sentinel, 13 Apr. 2026 See All Example Sentences for keffiyeh

Word History

Etymology

Arabic kūfīya, kaffīya, from al-Kufa Al-Kufa, town in Iraq

First Known Use

1831, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of keffiyeh was in 1831

Browse Nearby Words

keffel
keffiyeh
kefir
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Keffiyeh.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/keffiyeh. Accessed 8 Jul. 2026.

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