macaroni
noun
Did you know?
As you may have suspected, the macaroni in the song "Yankee Doodle" is not the familiar food. The feather in Yankee Doodle's cap apparently makes him a macaroni in the now rare "fop" or "dandy" sense. The sense appears to have originated with a club established in London by a group of young, well-traveled Englishmen in the 1760s. The founders prided themselves on their appearance, sense of style, and manners, and they chose the name Macaroni Club to indicate their worldliness. Because macaroni was, at the time, a new and rather exotic food in England, the name was meant to demonstrate how stylish the club's members were. The members were themselves called macaronis, and eventually macaroni became synonymous with dandy and fop.
Examples of macaroni in a Sentence
Elizabeth Fogarty, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Sep. 2025
Very tasty, juicy, great texture, a real compliment to the macaroni.
—Endia Fontanez, AZCentral.com, 22 Sep. 2025
However, Anderson, who became an official Drew Crew member during the episode, appeared surprised by Barrymore casually pulling the macaroni during his bag reveal.
—Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Sep. 2025
And Democrats have to stay razor-focused on the bread-and-butter and macaroni-and-cheese issues, not just the macro, the macro issues.
—NBC news, 24 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for macaroni
Video
Why did Yankee Doodle call a feather 'macaroni'?
What's with his feathered cap?
Cite this Entry
“Macaroni.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/macaroni. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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macaroni
noun
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