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hoity-toity

/ˈhɔɪtiˈtɔɪti/ adjective

adjective Definition from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Pronunciation from Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org. More about hoity-toity at Wordnik → Where our words come from →

  1. Affectedly genteel.

Origin

Probably from hoit (“to behave frivolously and thoughtlessly; to play the fool”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense ‘having the quality of’), reduplicated with a change of the initial consonant. The noun is attested earlier than the adjective.

From Wiktionary, via Kaikki.org (CC BY-SA)