See toff in All languages combined, or Wiktionary
Download JSON data for toff meaning in English (7.6kB)
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "pleb"
}
],
"derived": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "toffish"
},
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "toffy"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "tuft"
},
"expansion": "tuft",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Probably an alteration of tuft, referring to the gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "toffs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "toff (plural toffs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"_dis1": "0 0",
"word": "la-di-da"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
{
"_dis": "53 47",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "47 53",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "51 49",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1899, Rudyard Kipling, “Judson and the Empire”, in Many Inventions, New York: D. Appleton & Company, page 398",
"text": "Last week down our alley came a toff, / Nice old geyser with a nasty cough, / Sees my missus, takes his topper off, / Quite in a gentlemanly way",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An elegantly dressed person."
],
"id": "en-toff-en-noun-YUnr8qDC",
"raw_glosses": [
"(obsolete) An elegantly dressed person."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "konte",
"sense": "1. (obsolete) An elegantly dressed person",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "конте"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "frant",
"sense": "1. (obsolete) An elegantly dressed person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "франт"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "1. (obsolete) An elegantly dressed person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Stutzer"
},
{
"_dis1": "86 14",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "1. (obsolete) An elegantly dressed person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Geck"
}
]
},
{
"categories": [
{
"kind": "other",
"name": "British English",
"parents": [],
"source": "w"
},
{
"_dis": "53 47",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
"parents": [
"Entries with incorrect language header",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "47 53",
"kind": "other",
"name": "English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"parents": [
"Entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"Entry maintenance"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
},
{
"_dis": "51 49",
"kind": "topical",
"langcode": "en",
"name": "People",
"orig": "en:People",
"parents": [
"Human",
"All topics",
"Fundamental"
],
"source": "w+disamb"
}
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1972, Donald Gould, “A Groundling's Notebook”, in New Scientist, volume 55, number 812, page 512",
"text": "I came home first class—up the front end with the toffs—semi-anaesthetised throughout the trip by caviar and free champagne—and to hell with frugality and the conservation of resources.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1998 April 11, Paul McCartney, Billboard, page 34",
"text": "George Martin always seemed to me to be a \"toff\" and a gentleman even though his roots, like many of us, were in the common people. George has a touch of class that is quite impressive.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2000 December 18, BBC and Bafta Tribute to Michael Caine, 16:43-17:05",
"text": "Parkinson: You made films before, but the part that really made your name was Zulu, wasn't it […] and there of course—against type—you played the toff, you played the officer.\nCaine: I played the officer, yeah, and everybody thought I was like that. Everyone was so shocked when they met me, this like Cockney guy had played this toffee-nosed git.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2012, John Roberts, How the Dice Fell, page 186",
"text": "I like to see the toffs being toffs. The women all glammed up, the blokes in their tails and top 'ats, all braying and flinging their money around. Confirms all my prejudices. Just a reminder of who my enemies are.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person of the upper class or with pretensions to it, who usually communicates an air of superiority."
],
"id": "en-toff-en-noun-9Jfaq0YF",
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"pretension",
"pretension"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(British, derogatory) A person of the upper class or with pretensions to it, who usually communicates an air of superiority."
],
"tags": [
"British",
"derogatory"
],
"translations": [
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"word": "fijne mijnheer"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"word": "banjer"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Pinkel"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "alta-roda"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "grã-fino"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "granfa"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "bacana"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "džéntlʹmen",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "дже́нтльмен"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "bélaja kostʹ",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "бе́лая кость"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "gente de arriba"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "ricachón"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"Spain"
],
"word": "pijo"
},
{
"_dis1": "12 88",
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"Argentina"
],
"word": "concheto"
}
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/tɒf/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/tɔːf/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/tɔf/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/tɑf/",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒf"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɔːf"
},
{
"enpr": "tôf",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"enpr": "tŏf",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"cot-caught-merger"
]
}
],
"word": "toff"
}
{
"antonyms": [
{
"word": "pleb"
}
],
"categories": [
"English 1-syllable words",
"English countable nouns",
"English entries with incorrect language header",
"English entries with topic categories using raw markup",
"English lemmas",
"English nouns",
"English terms with IPA pronunciation",
"Rhymes:English/ɒf",
"Rhymes:English/ɒf/1 syllable",
"Rhymes:English/ɔːf",
"Rhymes:English/ɔːf/1 syllable",
"en:People"
],
"derived": [
{
"word": "toffish"
},
{
"word": "toffy"
}
],
"etymology_templates": [
{
"args": {
"1": "en",
"2": "tuft"
},
"expansion": "tuft",
"name": "m"
}
],
"etymology_text": "Probably an alteration of tuft, referring to the gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities.",
"forms": [
{
"form": "toffs",
"tags": [
"plural"
]
}
],
"head_templates": [
{
"args": {},
"expansion": "toff (plural toffs)",
"name": "en-noun"
}
],
"lang": "English",
"lang_code": "en",
"pos": "noun",
"related": [
{
"word": "la-di-da"
}
],
"senses": [
{
"categories": [
"English terms with obsolete senses",
"English terms with quotations"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1899, Rudyard Kipling, “Judson and the Empire”, in Many Inventions, New York: D. Appleton & Company, page 398",
"text": "Last week down our alley came a toff, / Nice old geyser with a nasty cough, / Sees my missus, takes his topper off, / Quite in a gentlemanly way",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"An elegantly dressed person."
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(obsolete) An elegantly dressed person."
],
"tags": [
"obsolete"
]
},
{
"categories": [
"British English",
"English derogatory terms",
"English terms with quotations",
"Quotation templates to be cleaned"
],
"examples": [
{
"ref": "1972, Donald Gould, “A Groundling's Notebook”, in New Scientist, volume 55, number 812, page 512",
"text": "I came home first class—up the front end with the toffs—semi-anaesthetised throughout the trip by caviar and free champagne—and to hell with frugality and the conservation of resources.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "1998 April 11, Paul McCartney, Billboard, page 34",
"text": "George Martin always seemed to me to be a \"toff\" and a gentleman even though his roots, like many of us, were in the common people. George has a touch of class that is quite impressive.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2000 December 18, BBC and Bafta Tribute to Michael Caine, 16:43-17:05",
"text": "Parkinson: You made films before, but the part that really made your name was Zulu, wasn't it […] and there of course—against type—you played the toff, you played the officer.\nCaine: I played the officer, yeah, and everybody thought I was like that. Everyone was so shocked when they met me, this like Cockney guy had played this toffee-nosed git.",
"type": "quotation"
},
{
"ref": "2012, John Roberts, How the Dice Fell, page 186",
"text": "I like to see the toffs being toffs. The women all glammed up, the blokes in their tails and top 'ats, all braying and flinging their money around. Confirms all my prejudices. Just a reminder of who my enemies are.",
"type": "quotation"
}
],
"glosses": [
"A person of the upper class or with pretensions to it, who usually communicates an air of superiority."
],
"links": [
[
"derogatory",
"derogatory"
],
[
"pretension",
"pretension"
]
],
"raw_glosses": [
"(British, derogatory) A person of the upper class or with pretensions to it, who usually communicates an air of superiority."
],
"tags": [
"British",
"derogatory"
]
}
],
"sounds": [
{
"ipa": "/tɒf/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/tɔːf/",
"tags": [
"Received-Pronunciation"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/tɔf/",
"tags": [
"General-American"
]
},
{
"ipa": "/tɑf/",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɒf"
},
{
"rhymes": "-ɔːf"
},
{
"enpr": "tôf",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"cot-caught-merger"
]
},
{
"enpr": "tŏf",
"tags": [
"Canada",
"cot-caught-merger"
]
}
],
"translations": [
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "konte",
"sense": "1. (obsolete) An elegantly dressed person",
"tags": [
"neuter"
],
"word": "конте"
},
{
"code": "bg",
"lang": "Bulgarian",
"roman": "frant",
"sense": "1. (obsolete) An elegantly dressed person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "франт"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "1. (obsolete) An elegantly dressed person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Stutzer"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "1. (obsolete) An elegantly dressed person",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Geck"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"word": "fijne mijnheer"
},
{
"code": "nl",
"lang": "Dutch",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"word": "banjer"
},
{
"code": "de",
"lang": "German",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "Pinkel"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "alta-roda"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "grã-fino"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "granfa"
},
{
"code": "pt",
"lang": "Portuguese",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"feminine",
"masculine"
],
"word": "bacana"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "džéntlʹmen",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "дже́нтльмен"
},
{
"code": "ru",
"lang": "Russian",
"roman": "bélaja kostʹ",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "бе́лая кость"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"feminine"
],
"word": "gente de arriba"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"masculine"
],
"word": "ricachón"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"Spain"
],
"word": "pijo"
},
{
"code": "es",
"lang": "Spanish",
"sense": "2. (Britain, derogatory) A person of the upper class, or with pretensions to it",
"tags": [
"Argentina"
],
"word": "concheto"
}
],
"word": "toff"
}
This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-05-01 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-04-21 using wiktextract (f4fd8c9 and c9440ce). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.
If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.