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decaf

decaf

79 1.7
Coffee with most of the caffeine removed
  • noun
  • /ˈdiːˌkæf/
  • Informal
translation icon : descafeinado
  • After dinner, I prefer to have a decaf so I can sleep better at night.
  • decaf coffee
  • cup of decaf
  • a decaf latte

So I'm a barista and sometimes I give decaf coffee to rude customers.

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Examples

  • Father and I had instant decaf with cream, no sugar.

    Fiction book (1992)
  • Bob brought the decaf and white wine.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • I was only drinking a cup of coffee with breakfast in the morning, maybe a cup of decaf in the afternoon.

  • Maybe you should think about switching to decaf or something.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Can I get a decaf mocha to go?

    Fiction book (2001)
  • I got my coffee decaf so I can go to sleep in an hour 'cause that's what time I'll be.

  • A middle-aged waitress approaches, holding a pot of regular coffee in one hand and decaf in the other.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Hi, can I have a medium decaf iced coffee, butter pecan, extra sugar and cream?

  • The waitress nods and offers me refills, decaf or regular, a transparent pot in either hand.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • Can I get a cup of decaf coffee instead of regular, please?

Synonyms

Sanka
vsdecaf
  • US
3 8.0

A brand of instant coffee with no caffeine often used to mean any decaffeinated coffee

is the general name for coffee with most or all caffeine removed
3 2.4

A coffee with most or all of the caffeine removed

is the shorter informal term for the same coffee

How Caffeinated

espresso
88 3.2
decaf
  • Informal
79 1.7

Surface Forms

decaf singular
decafs plural

Morphology

decaf = decaffeinated (semi-transparent) = de + caf

The noun is a common clipping of 'decaffeinated', but learners may not fully recover the source form from the shortened shape alone.

Etymology

Decaf is short for de- 'remove' plus the caf part from caffeine, which is the part of coffee that keeps you awake. So decaf means coffee 'without' caffeine or with very little of it.