toff
pronunciation
How to pronounce toff in British English:
UK [tɒf]
How to pronounce toff in American English:
US [tɑf]
-
- Noun:
- an elegantly dressed man (often with affected manners)
Word Origin
- toff
- toff: [19] Toff probably originated as an alteration of tuft [14], which was used from the 18th century as an Oxford University slang term for a ‘titled undergraduate’ (students who came from noble families wore a gold tassel or ‘tuft’ on their caps). Tuft itself was adapted from Old French tofe or toffe ‘tuft’, a word of Germanic origin.=> tuft
- toff (n.)
- lower-class London slang for "stylish dresser, man of the smart set," 1851, said by OED to be probably an alteration of tuft, formerly an Oxford University term for a nobleman or gentleman-commoner (1755), in reference to the gold ornamental tassel worn on the caps of undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge whose fathers were peers with votes in the House of Lords.
Example
- 1. I don 't know he is a toff in the world .
- 2. Capital have many old and new arts toff scene performed congratulations .
- 3. And dressed like a toff .
- 4. Everyday , wang mian go out very early in the morning to feed the cattle for the toff .
- 5. There had been press speculation mr cameron had decided against a morning suit in case it made him appear a " toff " .