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When Should You Use hoity-toity?
Hoity-toity is believed to have been created as a rhyme based on the dialectal English word hoit, meaning "to play the fool." Hoity-toity can mean "foolish" (e.g., "… as though it were very hoity-toity of me not to know that royal personage." — W. Somerset Maugham, The Razor’s Edge), but it is most often used to mean "pretentious."
Examples of hoity-toity in a Sentence
Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 24 Feb. 2024
And about having specific opinions about art not being some elitist hoity-toity thing.
—Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 21 Dec. 2023
When the Harmonists get their big break at a hoity-toity Berlin establishment, the cast does well sending up overserious waiters, holding platters in front of their crotches for a flurry of phallic jokes.
—Vulture, 13 Nov. 2023
At the same time, though, the property is anything but hoity-toity.
—Meagan Drillinger, Travel + Leisure, 25 Oct. 2023
Besides being utterly bereft of shame, Thomas has cultivated a fake image as an Everyman, more comfortable parking his RV among the little folk in the Walmart parking lots than rubbing shoulders with hoity-toity types.
—Globe Columnist, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Aug. 2023
Ray Carney is motile and plastic, a self-conscious journeyman who pins his rival, Alexander Oakes, a purer member of the hoity-toity Dumas Club.
—Lawrence Jackson, Harper's Magazine, 10 July 2023
Hansberry’s Mavis, a racist snob and antisemite complete with coifed curls and a hoity-toity hat, stands out in sharp contrast.
—Rachel Sherman, New York Times, 6 June 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hoity-toity.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
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Cite this Entry
“Hoity-toity.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hoity-toity. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
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