cotton candy

American  

noun

• cotton candies
  plural

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

---

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

---

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cotton candies
  plural

Etymology

Origin of cotton candy

An Americanism dating back to 1925–30

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cotton candy

It’s a piece of delicious, fluffy cotton candy, sweet and quick-dissolving.

From Salon ● Aug. 20, 2026

The sky was the color of cotton candy, but the stale kind that’s been hardening in a plastic bag for days after the fair.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 17, 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

I loved the carnival atmosphere that day—and especially eating cotton candy and candied apples.

From "While the World Watched: A Birmingham Bombing Survivor Comes of Age during the Civil Rights Movement" by Carolyn Maull McKinstry