toffy

Meanings

1. 1nouncountable or uncountablerareold-fashioned

   A less common way of spelling toffee, the hard or chewy sweet made from boiled sugar and butter.

   Grammar: Uncountable for the substance (a piece of toffy), countable for the sweets (two toffies).

   Patterns

   • a piece of toffy
   • a bag of toffy

   The shop sold toffy by the pound in paper bags.

   She broke a slab of toffy into small pieces for the children.

   Grandfather's recipe book still spelled it toffy.

2. 2noununcountablerare

   A flavor or color like that of cooked sugar and butter, a soft golden brown.

   Grammar: Often used before another noun in the standard spelling: toffee-colored.

   Patterns

   • toffy flavor

   The ice cream had a rich toffy flavor.

   Her hair was the color of toffy in the sunlight.

Word forms

Common combinations

a piece of toffy

He bit into a piece of toffy and stuck his teeth together.

homemade toffy

Homemade toffy cooled on a tray by the window.

butter toffy

Butter toffy was the family's favorite treat at Christmas.

toffy apple

The fair sold toffy apples on sticks.

Synonyms and how they differ

toffee

Toffee is the normal modern spelling of the same sweet, so use it in everyday writing.

caramel

Caramel is softer and more sticky and is made with cream, whereas toffy is usually harder and more brittle.

butterscotch

Butterscotch is a close relative made with brown sugar and butter, and the flavor is a little more buttery.

brittle

Brittle is a hard, thin sweet that often has nuts in it, and it snaps rather than chews.

Word family

toffee noun

the standard spelling of the sweet

toffee-nosed adjective

British informal word for snobbish

toffee apple noun

an apple covered in a hard sugary coating

Commonly confused: toffy or toffee?

Practice

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