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
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
as in tomfoolery
Related Words
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
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
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
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
Zazu, Scar’s winged associate, is played with hoity-toity dry wit by Nick LaMedica.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 21 Nov. 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
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
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
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
Zazu, Scar’s winged associate, is played with hoity-toity dry wit by Nick LaMedica.
—Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 21 Nov. 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
Adjective
-
As the sun and Jupiter clash, you’re cosmically protected, but arrogant behavior won’t get a pass.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
5 Apr. 2026
-
For Iran, what counts is resistance, against arrogant and wicked oppressors, chiefly the United States and Israel.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The Jazz are 15-35, which puts them at the sixth pick if zero lottery-ball tomfoolery happens.—
Zach Harper,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
-
But enough of all that tomfoolery, because there is one person on the beach who knows exactly what is about to happen!—
Dalton Ross,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Bateman’s Clark is comfortably semi-famous, semi-smug and also, maybe, a decent guy.—
Bill Goodykoontz,
AZCentral.com,
24 Mar. 2026
-
Over Your Dead Body is not for the faint of heart, but give or take a rape threat that crosses the line into smug sadism without quite seeming to realize it, the violence lands as more comically cartoonish than horrific.—
Angie Han,
HollywoodReporter,
15 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
After Thursday night’s Charlotte craziness, in which both ACC Tournament quarterfinals in the evening session were decided by a single point, Friday night instead brought back-to-back blowouts, as Virginia rolled past Miami in the first game.—
Scott Fowler,
Charlotte Observer,
14 Mar. 2026
-
Mullins has seen just about all of it by now, national games at neutral sites, craziness at Gampel and in Hartford, the most intimidating of environments on the road at Kansas, Creighton, and the Big East Tournament.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
14 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Another important note to make is that Lupaia is closed during the winter season for improvements to the rooms, garden, public area, and overall guest experience since the weather is too unpredictable to welcome guests during that time anyway.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
3 Apr. 2026
-
Nonresidents have such an important role to play in the management of wildlife in Wyoming, and obviously nonresident [hunting and fishing] licenses cost a lot more than resident ones do.—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Barnett was the second Mississippi resident to take the monkey business into their own hands.—
Bracey Harris,
NBC news,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The monkey business is dominated by a handful of highly secretive and rivalrous brokers.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
Adjective
-
Where is our courage to face ourselves, to put aside our vain longing for innocence?—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2026
-
The former Iranian diplomat Hossein Mousavian once scolded Americans for failing to realize that his people are prideful and vain, and that negotiations meant to humiliate and insult them won’t get far.—
Graeme Wood,
The Atlantic,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
There is a lot of rigmarole there that is conveniently hidden when positing this as a common sense thing.—
Mikey O'Connell,
HollywoodReporter,
27 Mar. 2026
-
To think there was ever a world in which Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni settled out of court, or worse yet, went to court in March of this year so that, by the time this blog post is being written, they might almost be done with the whole rigamarole.—
Fran Hoepfner,
Vulture,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Hoity-toity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hoity-toity. Accessed 9 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
