macaroni
macaroni Lexical Profile
macaroni Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A variety of pasta formed into narrow tubes, often cut into short lengths.
"She baked a large casserole of macaroni and cheese for the family dinner."
British An 18th-century British man who adopted exaggerated, highly ornamented Continental fashions and mannerisms after returning from the Grand Tour.
"The satirists of the day heavily mocked the macaronis for their towering wigs and extravagant waistcoats."
Word Nuance & Usage
In the American folk song 'Yankee Doodle', the lyric 'called it macaroni' refers to the 18th-century fashion trend of British dandies, not the pasta itself.
• Rhymes for macaroni
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Italian 'maccheroni', the plural of 'maccherone' (a type of pasta). The 18th-century usage for a dandy arose from young British men who returned from the Grand Tour of Italy having developed a taste for Italian food and flamboyant continental fashion.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.