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hoity-toity 1 of 2

adjective

Definition of hoity-toitynext
as in arrogant
informal having or showing the insulting attitude of people who think that they are better, smarter, or more important than other people a bunch of hoity-toity snobs

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hoity-toity

2 of 2

noun

as in tomfoolery

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Dissimilar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of hoity-toity
Adjective
Yes, ping-pong … table tennis for you hoity-toity types. — Randy McMullen, Mercury News, 25 Dec. 2025 Alas, there is no end in sight to the tornado of hoity-toity chaos that is Martin Levy. — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 5 Nov. 2025 Not to be hoity-toity or artsy or whatever. — Brayden Garcia, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 10 Oct. 2025
Noun
Most of the players immediately adopt exaggerated foppish courtier characters, complete with hoity-toity accents and hyperbolic graciousness. — Tasha Robinson, Vulture, 11 Aug. 2026 The estate played the home of Rose Byrne’s hoity-toity Helen Harris III in Bridesmaids (the backyard is where Kristen Wiig’s Annie detonated mid-bridal-shower, cookie in hand). — David Hochman, Forbes.com, 10 July 2026 Ditch your hoity-toity cocktail reception to get down with some hometown talent and hang with a hip-hop heavyweight. — Mars Salazar, Austin American-Statesman, 12 Dec. 2024 From the hoity-toity BAFTAs to the jovial People’s Choice Awards, the events this past week were pretty varied. — Rachel Cormack, Robb Report, 24 Feb. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hoity-toity
  1. arrogant
  2. tomfoolery
  3. important
  4. craziness
  5. smug
  6. monkey business
  7. vain
  8. rigmarole
Adjective
  • Everybody on our side understands that impeachment is a critical tool in the toolbox for constitutional self-defense against a president acting like a king, an imperious, lawless, arrogant king.
    — NBC news, NBC news, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Most obviously, front and center, and in endlessly intrusive close-up, there’s Pattinson — who also serves as producer — playing the arrogant, fame-addicted, megalomaniac Hansen.
    — Jessica Kiang, Variety, 5 Sep. 2026
Definition of arrogant
Noun
  • After the film’s theatrical release on June 26, the decades-long saga of pranks and tomfoolery is finally coming to an end.
    — Isabelle Farina, Variety, 9 Sep. 2026
  • New assistant coach Alice Chilton is a blatant remodeling of Roy Kent — a brusque ex-soccer player who’s reluctant to engage with Ted’s tomfoolery or personal prodding — but Tanya Reynolds’ performance is equal turns wounded and witty.
    — Ben Travers, IndieWire, 5 Aug. 2026
Definition of tomfoolery
Adjective
  • Yet he was accused of failing to do his work as recently as November, detained in a neighboring village over rainfall that disrupted an important ceremony.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Maybe the most important thing Jon Sumrall did Saturday night wasn’t beating Auburn.
    — Mike Bianchi, The Orlando Sentinel, 20 Sep. 2026
Definition of important
Noun
  • Jacksonville has a successful Triple-A franchise, the Jumbo Shrimp, that won its league last year, bringing fun theme nights, quirky mascots and between-inning craziness.
    — Letters to the Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 23 Aug. 2026
  • And there’s plenty more moving yet outrageous craziness to come.
    — Alex Ritman, Variety, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of craziness
Adjective
  • Similarly, Zo — seen recently as the monster hunter in Na Hong-jin’s delirious sci-fi action epic, Hope — stays for most of the running time just the right side of smug entitlement.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 6 Sep. 2026
  • Historian Sandgruber describes how Alois Hitler wrote his 1895 letters in a deeply smug, anti-clerical manner that overestimated his abilities.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 30 June 2026
Definition of smug
Noun
  • But this was no monkey business April Fool’s joke.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 4 June 2026
  • Barnett was the second Mississippi resident to take the monkey business into their own hands.
    — Bracey Harris, NBC news, 5 Nov. 2025
Definition of monkey business
Adjective
  • Jeon Do-yeon, who plays the family’s matriarch, is colorfully slinky as a globe-trotting party widow, a vain, compulsively seductive narcissist who macks on her daughters’ men like a Real Housewife given a villain’s edit.
    — Emily Nussbaum, New Yorker, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The character is a vain celebrity author known for his theatrics and questionable character.
    — Emily St. Martin, Los Angeles Times, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of vain
Noun
  • And the rigmarole of international travel is a very good reason.
    — R. Eric Thomas, Chicago Tribune, 18 Apr. 2026
  • Alternatives were mooted, such as filming in England, but flying all the crew from Poland, and their associated visa requirements, would have added to the rigmarole.
    — Jacob Tanswell, New York Times, 4 Apr. 2026
Definition of rigmarole

Browse Nearby Words

hoists
hoity-toity
hokey
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Cite this Entry

“Hoity-toity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoity-toity. Accessed 27 Sep. 2026.

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