Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
hoity-toity [hoi-tee-toi-tee] ExamplesWord Origin See more synonyms for hoity-toity on Thesaurus.com adjective
- assuming airs; pretentious; haughty.
- giddy; flighty.
noun
- giddy behavior.
Origin of hoity-toity First recorded in 1660–70; rhyming compound based on hoit to romp, riot (now obsolete) Related Words for hoity-toity arrogant, dizzy, flighty, giddy, pretentious, silliness, snooty, thoughtless Examples from the Web for hoity-toity Contemporary Examples of hoity-toity
How did the most American of retailers get mixed up with a hoity-toity Parisian boutique?
Choire Sicha
September 24, 2009
Historical Examples of hoity-toity
It was Paddy and Hoity-Toity engaged in animated discussion.
Stephen Crane
I barred the door even as Hoity-Toity’s fist thundered on the oak.
Stephen Crane
Hoity-toity, I don’t see as he’s any better than anybody else.
Evelyn Raymond
“Hoity-toity,” said the waiter, and he left off throwing the sand.
Benjamin Disraeli
I know the girl for a sly, scheming, hoity-toity flirt, but to think that she’d act so low like!
Peter B. Kyne
British Dictionary definitions for hoity-toity hoity-toity adjective
- informal arrogant or haughtywe have had enough of her hoity-toity manner
Word Origin for hoity-toity C17: rhyming compound based on C16 hoit to romp, of obscure origin Word Origin and History for hoity-toity
also hoity toity, 1660s, “riotous behavior,” from earlier highty tighty “frolicsome, flighty,” perhaps an alteration and reduplication of dialectal hoyting “acting the hoyden, romping” (1590s), see hoyden. Sense of “haughty” first recorded late 1800s, probably on similarity of sound.