cotton candy

American  

noun

1. a fluffy, sweet confection whipped from spun sugar and gathered or wound around a stick or cone-shaped paper core.

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cotton candy British  

noun

1. Also called (in Britain and certain other countries): candyfloss.  Austral name: fairyfloss.  a very light fluffy confection made from coloured spun sugar, usually held on a stick

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Etymology

Origin of cotton candy

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30

Example Sentences

The exposition popularized a host of snack foods that would become staples of American life, including ice-cream cones, peanut butter, hot dogs, hamburgers and cotton candy.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 16, 2026

I can see how it might feel like it’s been treated like a ball of cotton candy to give it away.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 6, 2026

This combination makes them extraordinarily low in density -- more like planetary-sized cotton candy than solid, rocky worlds.

From Science Daily • Jan. 31, 2026

She can munch on pizza made out of molten lava, or apply snowflakes and cotton candy as lip gloss.

From BBC • Dec. 26, 2025

A week of talent contests and softball games and races and Tilt-A-Whirl and bumper cars and music and barbecue and cotton candy.

From "Wringer" by Jerry Spinelli