hoity-toity

American  

[hoi-tee-toi-tee] / ˈhɔɪ tiˈtɔɪ ti /

adjective

1. assuming airs; pretentious; highfalutin; haughty.

   He thinks he's better than we are because he went to one of those hoity-toity private schools.

2. giddy; flighty.

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noun

1. giddy behavior.

hoity-toity British  

/ ˌhɔɪtɪˈtɔɪtɪ /

adjective

1. informal arrogant or haughty

   we have had enough of her hoity-toity manner

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Etymology

Origin of hoity-toity

First recorded in 1660–70; reduplicated and altered rhyming compound based on hoit “to romp, riot, play the fool” (now obsolete)

Example Sentences

L.A.’s tamale men of yore largely disappeared when restaurants — once almost exclusively a hoity-toity affair — became affordable, and Angelenos moved on to other Cal-Mex dishes like tacos and chile verde.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 29, 2023

“That’s how I went up to my hoity-toity apartment before closing.”

From New York Times • Feb. 3, 2021

I don't have a lot of patience for a lot of the hoity-toity fine dining stuff.

From Salon • Jul. 18, 2020

Trendy South Lake Union versions be damned: Das Wagon’s very, very spicy version of the Seattle Dog isn’t any kind of hoity-toity “elevation” of the stadium-food favorite.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 24, 2019

I thought I’d see her during the summers, but she spent them on the East Coast as a junior counselor at some hoity-toity camp.

From "The Miseducation of Cameron Post" by emily m. danforth