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toffee-nosed

American  
[taw-fee-nohzd, tof-ee-] / ˈtɔ fiˌnoʊzd, ˈtɒf i- /

adjective

British Slang.
  1. stuck-up; conceited; pretentious.

    a toffee-nosed butler; a toffee-nosed shop.


toffee-nosed British  

adjective

  1. slang pretentious or supercilious; used esp of snobbish people

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of toffee-nosed

First recorded in 1920–25


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:

Gold wrote not so much in sentences and paragraphs as in litanies: cascades of facts, of visual and tactile sensations, of wild references that ricocheted from the toffee-nosed to the profane.

From The New Yorker ● Jul. 24, 2018

Yet this hard-nosed apprehension was Mr Coulson’s big contribution to the rather toffee-nosed Tory operation.

From Economist ● Jun. 26, 2014

That's Millie Mackintosh the confectionery heiress, like literally toffee-nosed.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 9, 2013

What they say: "Guitarist Freddie Cowan is so toffee-nosed he's 14th in line to the throne and gets carried to gigs on a sedan chair."

From BBC ● Feb. 21, 2012

People posting comments on U.S. newspaper websites have called Hayward a "jerk" with a "toffee-nosed accent."

From Reuters ● Jun. 1, 2010

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