cupcake
Americannoun
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a small cake, the size of an individual portion, baked in a cup-shaped mold.
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Older Slang.
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a sexually attractive young woman.
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a beloved girl or woman.
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noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of cupcake
Explanation
A cupcake is a small, sweet baked good topped with frosting. You might bake cupcakes for your best friend's birthday. When you make cupcakes, you mix up cake batter and instead of baking it in large pans, pour it into the small, paper-lined indentations in a cupcake or muffin pan. Some people prefer cupcakes to cakes, because they're the perfect serving size. In Britain and Australia, cupcakes are called "fairy cakes." Cupcake is an American English word dating from the 19th century.
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.
See Examples For:
My dentist from a decade ago came through with a picture of a cupcake decked in a sparkler.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
His obsession with late-night television is almost endearing, like a child who bursts into tears on their birthday because someone smooshed a cupcake into their cheek.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
“Freeze in ice cube trays or silicone cupcake trays, bag, and label. You will never buy bouillon again.”
From Salon ● May 30, 2026
“I brought a cupcake — vegan vanilla. Bet it tastes pretty rancid,” Lanier said during closings, brandishing the baked good during an extended metaphor.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 25, 2026
He pushed his white cupcake cap to one side and scratched his head.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Café do Capa sells capybara-shaped fried foods, capybara-themed cupcakes, capybara gifts.
From Slate ● May 27, 2026
So the veteran plaintiff’s lawyer from Texas showed them two grocery items: cupcakes and tortillas.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
He said the company had ramped up its direct-to-consumer and off-premises offerings and created a line of chocolates made to look like the tops of their cupcakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 11, 2026
She often ate until she felt uncomfortably full and was especially drawn to sugary and salty foods such as packaged cupcakes, fast-food roast beef sandwiches, and French fries.
From Science Daily ● Dec. 8, 2025
“Albie, we’ll put your cupcakes in the cafeteria, okay? And then you can pick them up to take home after school is out. Would someone like to volunteer to take them, please?”
From Absolutely Almost by Lisa Graff
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.
