fruitcake

[ froot-keyk ]

noun

1. a rich cake containing dried or candied fruit, nuts, etc.
2. Slang. a crazy or eccentric person; nut.

fruitcake

/ ˈfruːtˌkeɪk /

noun

1. a rich cake containing mixed dried fruit, lemon peel, nuts, etc
2. slang.
   a person considered to be eccentric or insane

Word History and Origins

Origin of fruitcake¹

First recorded in 1840–50; fruit + cake

Idioms and Phrases

see nutty as a fruitcake .

Example Sentences

Fruitcake is one of very few desserts that inspires a near universal derision.

From Eater

Last year, I stored my tightly wrapped fruitcakes in my basement, tucked inside a securely sealed plastic storage container that I had used for moving.

From Eater

As Claire Saffitz reminds you in her Dessert Person recipe, making a fruitcake is not a process that you decide to take on in the middle of December — it’s a process that you start right about now.

From Eater

The New York Times’ Cooking’s recipe for fruitcake is called “Good Fruitcake,” which one could only take to mean that most fruitcakes are bad.

From Eater

Fruitcake quickly acclimated to its American home, and even plays a supporting role in American literature.

From The Daily Beast

Instead, think dried fruits, nuts, and spices—a holiday fruitcake you might actually want to eat.

From The Daily Beast

And they eating crumbs of the cottage fruitcake, jawing the whole blooming time and sighing.

From Project Gutenberg

Harry, who had been stuffing fruitcake on the sofa—sweets were his weakness—rose suddenly and came over to the group.

From Project Gutenberg

Im going to make a natural fruitcake, this week, for our little girls birthday.

From Project Gutenberg

The fruitcake was duly packed, transported, and eaten—we are bound to say without ill effect.

From Project Gutenberg

I had a whole fruitcake taken bodaciously from me last year.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• fanatic
• fiend
• freak
• looney
• lunatic
• zealot