cream puff
Americannoun
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a nearly hollow shell made from choux pastry and filled with custard or whipped cream.
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Slang.
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a weak or timid person.
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a gay man.
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Slang. a vehicle or machine that has been kept in unusually good condition or is very easy to operate.
Wow, this old Rolls drives like a dream. What a cream puff!
noun
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a shell of light pastry with a custard or cream filling
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informal an effeminate man
Etymology
Origin of cream puff
First recorded in 1850–55
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.
The final scene, in which Titus enters dressed as a chef, a cream puff of a toque jauntily placed on his head—he’s baked those unpalatable pies—retains its deranged tone.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 1, 2026
"It's the kind of flavor of pistachio you might find in a pistachio cream puff," Ramirez said.
From Salon ● Jan. 26, 2023
Their cream puff schedule generated absolutely no preseason buzz.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 10, 2022
“All my life I’m this cream puff, and next thing I know everyone sees me as some kind of gangster,” he told The New York Times for a 2017 article.
From New York Times ● Sep. 7, 2021
They howled and roared and slobbered toward Mr. Vendleri, Sycorax with a decaying cream puff still in her yellow jaws.
From "The Wednesday Wars" by Gary D. Schmidt
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
