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
[brau-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
-
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
"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
In fact, craving something sweet, I just grabbed a post-lunch packaged brownie from WSJ’s snack-food stash.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
She cut him a brownie the size of a barge before he had a chance to refuse.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
They are third at the moment but if they are 17th come the end of May, which is where they finished under Brownie, then that will be a successful season.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
I joined a Brownie pack led by a woman I knew as Brown Owl.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2025
She spent a week on and around that block, with Brownie and Marshmallow and a bag full of flyers about her husband.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 29, 2023
You’ve worked on what I think of as “uncle episodes,” where the focus is on some of the elders like Uncle Brownie.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 30, 2023
He’d be outside dancing and singing his heart out all day, so whenever Mr. Ray saw him, he would ask Brownie to perform something old-school.
From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds
“As someone who loves brownies but cannot bake, this appeals as another way to get that sweet smell in the house.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 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
"Everything's so uncertain. It's so unfair to be treated as a large business when we're selling a few brownies."
From BBC ● May 8, 2026
The table fills with supermarket vegetables, tubs of hummus, bags of chips, brownies purchased at the last minute.
From Salon ● Mar. 15, 2026
“That’s it golden boy. Get in a few brownies before you go to bed,” Mary Anne said.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
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