jiffy
(colloquial) A very short, unspecified length of time.
Etymology timeline
Born ~1780 · 1 year of recorded useSeen in the wild
$7.99USD – Simplicity 8517 Jiffy Plus Misses Pullover Dress Jacket Size 14-16 Vintage – New
General Tools 806 Jiffy Centering Punch, Silver
Jiffy cake is the absolute best, especially for people who want cake but have weird husbands who don't like cake. 😂
Let them eat cake-- Jiffy cake mix only, of course
the exurban/rural gentry, or ERG - dudes who own a few Jiffy Lubes and whose teenage sons get arrested, and charges promptly dropped, when they drunkenly run a Sea-Doo into the side of a public pier
Definitions
(colloquial) A very short, unspecified length of time.
I’ll be back in a jiffy.
Comments
(computing) A unit of time defined by the frequency of its basic timer – historically, and by convention, 0.01 of a second, but some computer operating systems use other values.
"jiffy" means a unit of time defined by the frequency of its basic timer – historically, and by convention, 0. It is one of many casual words teens pick up from friends, social media, music or sport, and on its own it carries no particular warning. If you hear your teen use it, it is fair to ask what they mean by it in their friend group, since meanings drift quickly. Asking out of curiosity rather than alarm tends to keep the conversation open and useful.
"jiffy" is informal English meaning a unit of time defined by the frequency of its basic timer – historically, and by convention, 0. It is used widely across English varieties. A more formal or neutral equivalent would be something like "a unit of time defined by the frequency of its basic timer " expressed in standard vocabulary. A common mistake is to assume "jiffy" can replace its standard equivalent in every register; keep it for spoken or casual situations and use the formal form in writing.
“$7.99USD – Simplicity 8517 Jiffy Plus Misses Pullover Dress Jacket Size 14-16 Vintage – New”
— Bluesky· May 2026“General Tools 806 Jiffy Centering Punch, Silver”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Jiffy cake is the absolute best, especially for people who want cake but have weird husbands who don't like cake. 😂”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Let them eat cake-- Jiffy cake mix only, of course”
— Bluesky· May 2026“the exurban/rural gentry, or ERG - dudes who own a few Jiffy Lubes and whose teenage sons get arrested, and charges promptly dropped, when they drunkenly run a Sea-Doo into the side of a public pier”
— Bluesky· May 2026
Comments
(electronics) The length of an alternating current power cycle (1/60 or 1/50 of a second).
“[Jump to content](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiffy_(time)#bodyContent) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Measurement of time **Jiffy** can be an informal term for any unspecified short period, as in "I will be back in a jiffy".”
“04. [↑](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiffy_mix#cite_ref-4)Marti Attoun. ["Making Baking a Jiffy"](https://web.archive.org/web/20070926235555/http://www.americanprofile.com/article/19981.html).”
“Parker started working at Jiffy when she was 24 years old, nearly 38 years ago. (Bottom left) Historical photos line the walls of the factory entrance. (Bottom right) Employee lockers. **Elissa Nadworny/NPR** **hide caption** **toggle caption** Elissa Nadworny/NPR (Top) Howdy Holmes talks with employee Sandy Parker on the factory floor.”
Comments
Used in
Have a better definition?
Add your own interpretation of "jiffy".
⚡About Tech, Dev & AI slang
The vocabulary of software engineers, AI researchers, and anyone living in a terminal or on GitHub — from LLM to MCP, CORS to vibe coding, agentic to enshittification.
See all Tech, Dev & AI slang on Slangora.
Tags
Other words near "jiffy" (J)
Browse all slang words starting with J.