brownie
noun
(in folklore) a tiny, fanciful, good-natured brown elf who secretly helps at night with household chores.
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brownie
American
[brou-nee]
/ ˈbraʊ ni /
noun
-
brownies
plural
-
(in folklore) a tiny, fanciful, good-natured brown elf who secretly helps at night with household chores.
-
a small, chewy, cakelike cookie, usually made with chocolate and containing nuts.
-
Australian. a bread with currants, baked in a camp oven.
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Sometimes Brownie a member of the junior division of the Girl Scouts or the Girl Guides, being a girl in the 1st, 2nd, or 3rd grade and usually between six and eight years old.
brownie
1
British
/ ˈbraʊnɪ /
noun
-
(in folklore) an elf said to do helpful work at night, esp household chores
-
a small square nutty chocolate cake
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history a bread made with currants
Brownie
2
British
/ ˈbraʊnɪ /
noun
-
another name for Brownie Guide
-
(formerly) a popular make of simple box camera
Usage
What is a brownie? A brownie is a small, chewy chocolate cake-like dessert that often includes nuts, as in We loved Nana’s brownies so much that we begged her to make them for every party. In British folklore, a brownie is a tiny, brown elf that secretly assists with chores during the night, as in I once heard a fairy tale about a brownie who helped a cobbler clean his workshop. Example: The first thing I learned to bake was brownies, and I still love to bake them.
Synonym Usage
See fairy.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of brownie
First recorded in 1520–30; brown + -ie; in folkloric sense, originally Scots
Vocabulary lists containing brownie
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:
At a trade show in February this year, Helene Godin pitched her bakery’s mini-Bundt cakes and brownie bites to some of the biggest supermarket chains in the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
“I took an Advil and served birthday cake, brownie, chocolate fudge.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 17, 2026
A brownie that picks a lane and commits: dense and structured, deeply bittersweet and finished with a sharp hit of salt.
From Salon ● Apr. 28, 2026
"I didn't really know what a cake or a doughnut or a brownie was until I started having after-school parties in California," she says.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
She cut him a brownie the size of a barge before he had a chance to refuse.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
We had slogans and passwords, and made the Brownie promise: “I promise to do my best, to do my duty to God and the King, to help other people every day, especially those at home.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025
The other is Little Brownie Bakers, which is owned by the Ferrero Group.
From New York Times ● Feb. 3, 2024
“He’s worked with great hitters. He’s helped them turn keys. He’s got unbelievable energy. We know Brownie from his time with us, and it was a no-brainer for us.”
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 7, 2023
Like the cartoon image of Brownie the Elf that fans voted to have painted at midfield last season.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 18, 2023
She patted Brownie on his neck, grabbed his mane, and pulled herself slowly to his back.
From "Copper Sun" by Sharon M. Draper
His colleagues are gleeful taste-testers, particularly when he brings in his famous salted caramel brownies.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Bakers are juggling those cakes along with batters and oven schedules for scones, brownies, custom wedding cakes and other products.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
Her boyfriend got it from BadAsh Bakes, the viral bakery based in Pasadena best known for its cinnamon rolls, cookies, brownies and layer cakes.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
Black bean brownies fall into the category of things that sound like a joke until they aren’t.
From Salon ● May 5, 2026
Grandma started making brownies, and Shawn and I went upstairs to choose a movie.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
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.
