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hoitytoity

 - 2 dictionary results

hoi⋅ty-toi⋅ty

  [hoi-tee-toi-tee]
Use hoitytoity in a Sentence
–adjective
1. assuming airs; pretentious; haughty.
2. giddy; flighty.
–noun
3. giddy behavior.
Origin:
1660–70; rhyming compound based on hoit to romp, riot (now obs.)
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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Word Origin & History

hoity-toity 
1668, "riotous behavior," from earlier highty tighty "frolicsome, flighty," perhaps an alteration and reduplication of dial. hoyting "acting the hoyden, romping" (1594), see hoyden. Sense of "haughty" first recorded late 1800s, probably on similarity of sound.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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