toffy demeanor

9.9

Acting like a rich person to seem better than others

noun

Offensive

: actitud esnob

Her toffy demeanor was just a facade to hide her insecurities.

Examples

They laughed at his toffy demeanor and exaggerated accent.
Despite his toffy demeanor, he was quite approachable once you got to know him.
Her toffy demeanor made her seem unapproachable.
He always speaks with a toffy demeanor.
Despite his toffy demeanor, he was quite approachable once you got to know him.
They laughed at his toffy demeanor and exaggerated accent.
Her toffy demeanor was just a facade to hide her insecurities.

Antonyms

natural tone

4.2

A normal relaxed way of speaking that sounds honest

Surface Forms

toffy demeanor singular

toffy demeanors plural

Morphology

toffy + demeanor

The noun phrase combines 'toffy' (affectedly upper-class) with 'demeanor' (behaviour/attitude), so the overall meaning 'an affectedly posh or snobbish manner' is directly derivable from the constituents. Although 'toffy' is chiefly British and somewhat marked, the adjective+noun composition is compositional and predictable, so a B1 learner who knows both words would comprehend the phrase.

Etymology

Toffy demeanor comes from the word toff, an old British name for a rich, upper-class person, plus demeanor meaning 'the way you behave'. It gives the image of someone putting on a fancy act, standing very straight and speaking in a posh voice to seem better than others, so it now means 'a fake, posh or snobbish manner'.