What it means
A posh, upper-class person, usually with money and manners that don’t match normal life. It’s often said with a bit of side-eye, half teasing, half insult, for private-school types, tweed-and-gin crowd, or anyone giving country-house energy. Sounds a little old-school, but it still pops up when someone’s being painfully fancy.
Usage examples
"That lad rocked up in tweed, ordered a gin flight, and moaned the crisps weren’t artisanal. Total toff vibes, everyone was creasing."
"A couple of toffs in tweed wandered into the chippy looking thoroughly lost and asked if we did truffle fries."
"He talks like a toff but grew up two streets over from me, the accent only showed up after he changed jobs."
Where it comes from
Likely worn down from tuft, the gold tassel that titled students once flaunted on their caps at Oxford and Cambridge. The tufts marked the posh and privileged, so the tassel itself became the man, and a toff has meant a moneyed gent ever since.
Other ways to say it
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