toff

[tof]

See more synonyms for toff on Thesaurus.com

noun British Informal.

a stylishly dressed, fashionable person, especially one who is or wants to be considered a member of the upper class.

Origin of toff

First recorded in 1850–55; perhaps variant of tuft

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for toffs

aggravate, exasperate, incense, enrage, rile, irritate, anger, provoke, disturb, vex, irk, gall, infuriate, inflame, annoy, embitter, peeve, excite, agitate, rankle

Examples from the Web for toffs

Contemporary Examples of toffs

In other word, he is a toff among toffs—proving, perhaps, that while Cameron may one day go, the toffs might be here to stay.
David Cameron’s Toff Problem
Mike Giglio
May 3, 2012

Historical Examples of toffs

When you go on your trip for action in the Bois among the toffs, will you take me with you?
Caught In The Net
Emile Gaboriau
Is this the way you treat the toffs, when they come to see you?
The Tale of Timber Town
Alfred Grace
You're a toff, that's what you are, and your lines has been laid for toffs.
Moran of the Lady Letty
Frank Norris
We could see the toffs in evening dress idling in the glow of her electric lights.
The Sea and the Jungle
H. M. Tomlinson
There's hundreds of toffs in England and Injia'd give their ears for a day after these, you know.
An Outback Marriage
Andrew Barton Paterson

British Dictionary definitions for toffs

toff

noun

British slang a rich, well-dressed, or upper-class person, esp a man

Word Origin for toff

C19: perhaps variant of tuft, nickname for a titled student at Oxford University, wearing a cap with a gold tassel

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

Word Origin and History for toffs

toff

lower-class British slang for "stylish dresser, member of the smart set," 1851, said to be probably an alteration of tuft, formerly an Oxford University term for a nobleman or gentleman-commoner (1755), in reference to the gold ornamental tassel worn on the caps of undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge whose fathers were peers with votes in the House of Lords.