toff

toff

[tof]
noun British Informal.
a stylishly dressed, fashionable person, especially one who is or wants to be considered a member of the upper class.

Origin:
1850–55; perhaps variant of tuft

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World English Dictionary
toff (tɒf) [Click for IPA pronunciation guide]
 
n
slang (Brit) a rich, well-dressed, or upper-class person, esp a man
 
[C19: perhaps variant of tuft, nickname for a titled student at Oxford University, wearing a cap with a gold tassel]

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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00:10
Toff is always a great word to know.
So is ninnyhammer. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

toff
lower-class British slang for "stylish dresser, member of the smart set," 1851, probably an alteration of tuft, formerly an Oxford Univ. term for a nobleman or gentleman-commoner (1755), in ref. to the gold ornamental tassel worn on the caps of undergraduates at Oxford and Cambridge whose fathers were
peers with votes in the House of Lords.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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