noun [ in sing. ] informal, chiefly Brit. a commotion or fuss, esp. one caused by conflicting views: there was a kerfuffle over the chairmanship. ORIGIN early 19th cent.: perhaps from Scots curfuffle (probably from Scottish Gaelic car ‘twist, bend’ + imitative Scots fuffle ‘to disorder’), or related to Irish cior thual ‘confusion, disorder.’