Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
toffee-nose

toffee-nose

1 9.9
A person who thinks they are better than others
  • noun
  • /ˈtɒfi nəʊz/
  • Offensive
translation icon : snob
  • Nobody likes a toffee-nose who boasts about their expensive holidays.

Examples

  • He's such a toffee-nose when it comes to fashion.

  • Stop acting like a toffee-nose just because you got a promotion.

  • She dismissed him as a toffee-nose who looked down on everyone at the dinner.

  • I can't stand her toffee-nose attitude.

  • He always acts superior, like he's a real toffee-nose when we go out for dinner.

  • Everyone at the party thought she was such a toffee-nose because of the way she looked down on others.

  • The toffee-nose in our class often ridiculed those who didn't wear designer clothes.

Synonyms

snob
vstoffee-nose
  • Offensive
72 5.1

A person who thinks they are better than others because of their social status or taste

thinks themselves superior generally rather than only for status or taste
bougie
vstoffee-nose
  • Offensive
6 9.3

A person who likes expensive things and shows off

focuses on showing superiority and looking down on others rather than just wealth
toff
vstoffee-nose
  • Offensive
5 9.9

A rich person from the upper class often seen as proud

is pretentious without necessarily being upper class or wealthy

How Snobbish

elitist
23 6.8
toffee-nose
  • Offensive
1 9.9
snob
  • Offensive
72 5.1

Surface Forms

toffee-nose singular
toffee-noses plural

Morphology

toffee-nose = toffee + nose (opaque) = toffee + nose

The idiomatic meaning 'a snobbish person' is not predictable from the literal senses of 'toffee' and 'nose'.

Etymology

Toffee-nose is British slang for a snobbish person. One popular idea is that it comes from toff ('a rich person') and the silly image of someone with toffee on their nose, so you can remember a toffee-nose as someone who acts like they are better than others.