candy
noun
any of a variety of confections made with sugar, syrup, etc., often combined with chocolate, fruit, nuts, etc.
candy
1 American
[kan-dee]
/ ˈkæn di /
noun
-
candies
plural
-
any of a variety of confections made with sugar, syrup, etc., often combined with chocolate, fruit, nuts, etc.
-
a single piece of such a confection.
-
Slang. cocaine.
-
someone or something that is pleasing or pleasurable, usually in a superficial way (often used in combination).
The show is candy, but enjoy it for what it is.
verb (used with object)
-
candies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
candied,
past participle, past
-
candying
present participle
-
to cook in sugar or syrup, as sweet potatoes or carrots.
-
to cook in heavy syrup until transparent, as fruit, fruit peel, or ginger.
-
to reduce (sugar, syrup, etc.) to a crystalline form, usually by boiling down.
-
to coat with sugar.
to candy dates.
-
to make sweet, palatable, or agreeable.
verb (used without object)
-
candies,
present (3rd person singular)
-
candied,
past participle, past
-
candying
present participle
-
to become covered with sugar.
-
to crystallize into sugar.
Candy
2
American
[kan-dee]
/ ˈkæn di /
noun
candy
British
/ ˈkændɪ /
noun
-
confectionery in general; sweets, chocolate, etc
-
a person or thing that is regarded as being attractive but superficial
arm candy
-
informal very easy to accomplish
verb
-
to cause (sugar, etc) to become crystalline, esp by boiling or (of sugar) to become crystalline through boiling
-
to preserve (fruit peel, ginger, etc) by boiling in sugar
-
to cover with any crystalline substance, such as ice or sugar
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
candysimple
-
candiessimple
-
have candiedperfect
-
has candiedperfect
-
am candyingprogressive
-
are candyingprogressive
-
is candyingprogressive
-
have been candyingperfect progressive
-
has been candyingperfect progressive
Past
-
candiedsimple
-
had candiedperfect
-
was candyingprogressive
-
were candyingprogressive
-
had been candyingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of candy
1225–75; Middle English candi, sugre candi candied sugar < Middle French sucre candi; candi ≪ Arabic qandī < Persian qandi sugar < Sanskrit khaṇḍakaḥ sugar candy
Explanation
Candy is a sugary sweet treat. Halloween is partly about dressing up in costumes, but mostly it's about the candy. Your favorite candy may be sweet and fruity, or so sour you can barely stand to eat it. Other people prefer chocolate when it comes to candy. Candy is also a verb, meaning "coat with a sugary glaze," — you might candy cherries or almonds. And when something's made of candy, the word becomes an adjective: "But it's only a candy cigarette!" The word comes from the Arabic qandi, with its Persian root quand, "cane sugar."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
The lawsuit focused primarily on Reese’s Peanut Butter Pumpkins, whose packaging depicts the seasonal candy with a carved jack-o’-lantern face.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2026
A blue-haired hipster and her tattooed companion walked past, cotton candy in hand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
“They put this candy blood in my mouth, and I thought it was so fun.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 18, 2026
On Thursday, government data showed that costs for gasoline, jet fuel, home heating oil, alongside candy and nuts, also rose.
From Barron's ● Sep. 10, 2026
My sister is doing her best impression of a librarian who caught kids eating candy in the nonfiction section.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
Ontario-born Candy was such an icon that when the film was selected to open last year’s Toronto International Film Festival, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney made a surprise appearance to introduce it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026
Sharma is cutting the number of games Microsoft publishes and is investing more in its most popular franchises, including Minecraft, Candy Crush and Fallout.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 6, 2026
She added that as part of this, Minecraft developer Mojang and Candy Crush developer King would now report directly to her.
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
Eighty-nine years later, Economy Candy is still going strong.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
On six, Candy answers the bell and says, “You have chocolate on your chin.”
From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead
"I don't know how long we will be like this," said Stefani Garate, 26, who used to sell coconut candies on the beach.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
Chamoy has been used by a lot of modern day food makers and chefs with American nostalgic candies, like peach rings and gummy worms, and my personal favorite, Gushers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 17, 2026
Initially it was a hat and shoe repair store, with candies sold from a cart out front as an extra earning stream.
From BBC ● Jun. 10, 2026
Take, for example, the viral “snackle box,” which contains multiple compartments to hold everything from your favorite packaged snacks and candies to cut up fruit and vegetables.
From Salon ● May 17, 2026
There are many varieties of food on the table: red cookies, red candies, red roasted pigs, and red noodles.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Cake fillings of almond crunch and toasted pecan praline and candied lemon, while jackfruit and palm sugar bring distinct South-East Asian flavours.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
There’s the Ukrainian poppy seed cake makivnyk, the Middle Eastern hot chocolate sahlep, the Spanish nougat turrón and the Chinese candied fruit tanghulu, among others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 16, 2025
The Caesar salad, with candied anchovies, gem lettuce, and umeboshi dressing, is a playful twist, but the main course is where things get truly exciting.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025
Stewart goes on to provide tutorials on how to make those boxed lanterns — along with an array of Halloween-centric treats and decorations: candied apples, homemade costumes, pumpkin-shaped iced cookies and carved pumpkins.
From Salon ● Oct. 30, 2025
Sweet and bitter at the same time, like candied orange peel.
From "Aru Shah and the End of Time" by Roshani Chokshi
Some confectioners infuse their candying syrup with botanicals, like bay leaves, rosemary or peppercorns, for added intrigue.
From Salon ● Dec. 6, 2023
It’s subtle but transformative to know what sugar feels like in your fingers at different stages of candying.
From New York Times ● Dec. 1, 2017
Basket parties bumped him; sticky children tumbled, howling, under his feet, candying his clothes.
From The Trimmed Lamp, and other Stories of the Four Million by O. Henry
By this property, the combs serve also to keep the bees warm, and there is not so much risk of the honey candying in the cells, or the combs cracking with frost.
From Langstroth on the Hive and the Honey-Bee A Bee Keeper's Manual by L. L. (Lorenzo Lorraine) Langstroth
Opening his coppers, and finding an old boot boiling away as saucy as could be, and sometimes cakes of pitch candying in his oven.
From Omoo by Herman Melville
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
