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fruitcake

American  
[froot-keyk] / ˈfrutˌkeɪk /

noun

  1. a rich cake containing dried or candied fruit, nuts, etc.

  2. Slang. a crazy or eccentric person; nut.

fruitcake British  
/ ˈfruːtˌkeɪk /

noun

  1. a rich cake containing mixed dried fruit, lemon peel, nuts, etc

  2. slang a person considered to be eccentric or insane

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
fruitcake Idioms  

  1. see nutty as a fruitcake.

Etymology

Origin of fruitcake

First recorded in 1840–50; fruit + cake

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

His favourite treat, however, is the Simnel cake, a traditional fruitcake typically made with a layer of either marzipan or almond paste and associated with Lent.

From BBC • Mar. 27, 2026

Seasoning not only improves the flavor of the fruitcake, but it makes it easier to slice.

From Salon • Dec. 17, 2024

A 1953 Los Angeles Times article called fruitcake a "holiday must," and in 1958, the Christian Science Monitor asked, "What Could Be a Better Gift Than Fruitcake?"

From Salon • Dec. 17, 2024

Even older is the fruitcake left behind in Antarctica by the explorer Robert Falcon Scott in 1910.

From Salon • Dec. 17, 2024

Mrs. Weasley, however, had sent the family owl, Errol, with an enormous fruitcake and assorted meat pies.

From "Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire" by J. K. Rowling

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.