taffy

American  

[taf-ee] / ˈtæf i /

noun

plural

taffies

1. a chewy candy made of sugar or corn syrup boiled down with butter or oil, pulled or stretched back and forth to incorporate air bubbles, then rolled, twisted, and cut into pieces.

2. Informal. flattery.

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taffy ¹ British  

/ ˈtæfɪ /

noun

1. a chewy sweet made of brown sugar or molasses and butter, boiled and then pulled so that it becomes glossy

2. a less common term for toffee

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Taffy ² British  

/ ˈtæfɪ /

noun

1. a slang word or nickname for a Welshman

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Etymology

Origin of taffy

First recorded in 1815–25; northern English dialect variant of toffee; toffee ( def. )

Explanation

Taffy is a very sweet, chewy candy. You can find brightly colored boxes of taffy in tourist gift shops. Taffy is made by repeatedly stretching a mixture of boiled sugar, butter, and flavoring. The stretching, or "pulling" of taffy is what gives it a light, chewy consistency. In coastal towns, it's usually called "salt water taffy," a name that was coined in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the 1920s. While salt is often an ingredient in salt water taffy, it doesn't actually contain any salt water.

Example Sentences

The Swiss cheese stretched like taffy when you pulled a slider apart.

From Salon • Sep. 30, 2025

It’s basically taffy with a peanut butter center, a joyous merger that has been made since the 1970s by Annabelle Candy Co. in Hayward.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 1, 2023

“About 750 million years ago, the supercontinent began to thin and pull apart like warm taffy because of expansion of the continental crust,” Sandra H.B.

From National Geographic • Oct. 13, 2023

Ms. Strobel said the deer did not leave empty-mouthed, taking with it a piece of butter popcorn taffy.

From Washington Times • Aug. 29, 2023

We walked on the beach, fed blue corn chips to the seagulls, and munched on blue jelly beans, blue saltwater taffy, and all the other free samples my mom had brought from work.

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan