dressed like a toff
- idiom
- Archaic
- She arrived at the party dressed like a toff, turning heads with her stylish outfit.
Examples
-
Even though he grew up modestly, he enjoys going out dressed like a toff from time to time.
-
He chose to arrive dressed like a toff for the wedding, donning a tailored suit and polished shoes to impress the guests.
-
During the festival, many tourists are seen dressed like a toff to blend in with the high society crowd.
-
She was dressed like a toff for the gala.
-
Why are you dressed like a toff today?
-
During the gala, she appeared at the entrance dressed like a toff, capturing everyone's attention with her elegant attire.
-
At the charity event, many guests were dressed like a toff, showcasing their most exquisite evening wear.
Synonyms
4
7.6
Wearing very elegant formal clothes for a special occasion
1
9.9
Acting like a rich person to seem important
1
8.4
Wearing smart or fancy clothes
1
7.8
Wearing stylish, elegant clothes
1
9.1
Wearing smart clothes for a special event
Antonyms
How Elegant
- Informal
- Archaic
- Informal
1
6.8
50
2.4
18
2.4
63
1.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'wearing clothing typical of the upper class' follows directly from combining 'dressed' (wearing) + 'like' (similar to) + 'a toff' (a wealthy person), so the sense is compositionally predictable. This simile pattern is common across languages and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows the word 'toff' (noting that 'toff' is regionally marked slang), so the expression is transparent.
Etymology
Dressed like a toff may come from the old word toff, used for a rich or important person and linked in stories to a small gold 'tuft' or hair ornament that showed high rank. So, dressed like a toff means 'wearing very smart, upper-class clothes'.