noun
GIF
GIF or JIF
GIF (noun) means a short, silent, looping animation used online to react, joke or demonstrate something. Example: “She replied to the invitation with a GIF of someone dancing on a table.”
noun
1
A short, silent, looping animation used online to react, joke or demonstrate something.
"She replied to the invitation with a GIF of someone dancing on a table."
"The tutorial includes a GIF showing each step of the setup."
2
technical An image file format that supports simple animation and a limited palette of colours, widely used on the web.
"Save the logo as a GIF if you need a transparent background and only a few colours."
verb
1
informal To turn a video clip into such an animation.
"Someone had already GIFed the moment before the match finished."
How to use GIF
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA little looping video clip with no sound.
When to use it
Standard everywhere online. Both pronunciations, with a hard g as in gift and a soft g as in jam, are in wide use and neither is wrong.
Memory tip
Written in capitals as GIF, with the plural GIFs and no apostrophe.
Trace the full origin ↓
Common pairings
send a GIF
animated GIF
reaction GIF
GIF keyboard
Vocabulary Flow
Build your vocabulary from words like GIF.
Vocabulary Flow serves the next word, and the next — meaning, pronunciation and an example each time. Practice at your level, or learn English in your own language.
Start vocabulary practice
Fill the gap
Can you complete this real example?
She replied to the invitation with a _____ of someone dancing on a table.
Etymology
An initialism of Graphics Interchange Format.
Rhymes for GIF
See all rhymes for GIF →Frequently asked questions
Is it pronounced GIF with a hard or soft g?
Both are established and understood. The format's creator preferred the soft 'jif' pronunciation, but the hard g, matching the word graphics in the acronym, is now more common among ordinary users. Neither will cause confusion.
What is the difference between a GIF and a video?
A GIF has no sound, usually loops forever, and is stored as a sequence of images rather than compressed video, which makes it much larger for the same length. Many platforms now show what looks like a GIF but is actually a short muted video file underneath, precisely to save bandwidth.
What is the difference between GIF and PNG?
Both support transparency, but GIF can animate and is limited to 256 colours per frame, so photographs look banded. PNG holds millions of colours and gives cleaner still images, but it does not animate.
What is the meaning of GIF?
"GIF" (noun) means a short, silent, looping animation used online to react, joke or demonstrate something.
Featured in
Vocabulary lists that include GIF:
