taffy

[ taf-ee ]

noun

, plural taf·fies.

1. a chewy candy made of sugar or corn syrup boiled down with butter or oil, pulled or stretched back and forth to incorporate air bubbles, then rolled, twisted, and cut into pieces.
2. Informal. flattery.

Taffy

¹

/ ˈtæfɪ /

noun

1. a slang word or nickname for a Welshman

taffy

²

/ ˈtæfɪ /

noun

1. a chewy sweet made of brown sugar or molasses and butter, boiled and then pulled so that it becomes glossy
2. See toffee
   a less common term for toffee

Word History and Origins

Origin of taffy¹

First recorded in 1815–25; northern English dialect variant of toffee; toffee ( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of taffy¹

C17: from the supposed Welsh pronunciation of Davy (from David, Welsh Dafydd ), a common Welsh Christian name

Origin of taffy²

C19: perhaps from tafia

Example Sentences

It features a solid milk chocolate bunny, sour jelly beans, and chocolate sandwich cookies, nestled alongside pretty pastel-wrapped taffy and a sugar cookie in the shape of a carrot.

From The Daily Beast

One is that, he said, this kind of phenomenon, which is called a carrying capacity — means that only so much can be produced because of these natural limits — could be stretched like taffy to cover the entire world.

From Freakonomics

From the District to New York, that charming little town of taffy and traffic will host us all.

From Washington Blade

His family went mask-free while watching an employee pull taffy inside La King’s Confectionery, an old-fashioned ice cream parlor and candy shop.

From Washington Post

“The sun’s magnetic field lines can get complicated and twisted up like taffy in certain regions,” says Mary Hudson, a physicist at Dartmouth College.

From Science News

I made a painting of the scene with Katy licking an ice cream cone in a taffy forest.

From The Daily Beast

Taffy Brodesser-Akner has written for the Los Angeles Times, Salon, and Self, among other publications.

From The Daily Beast

Taffy Brodesser-Akner, a devotee of 90210, Gossip Girl, and One Tree Hill, searches for answers.

From The Daily Beast

Taffy Brodesser-Akner has written for the Los Angeles Times, Salon, and Babble, among other publications.

From The Daily Beast

Erin Wasson speaks with a slow, gravelly drawl, chewing on her words like sticky pieces of taffy.

From The Daily Beast

It seems to me they look more like candy themselves, with their taffy hair and peppermint-striped bathing-suits.

From Project Gutenberg

Well make a hot drink and the cake and ice-cream, with taffy, ought to be enough in all conscience, especially on Thanksgiving.

From Project Gutenberg

An insufficient amount of sugar will result in tough, sour jelly, while too large a quantity will make the jelly taffy-like.

From Project Gutenberg

Still others, such as taffy, are pulled until light in color and then cut into small pieces with a pair of scissors.

From Project Gutenberg

Then, again, taffy made from white sugar may be varied by means of many delightful colors and flavors.

From Project Gutenberg