noun
fruitcake
FROOT-kayk
noun
1
A dense cake made with dried fruit, nuts, and spices, often served at Christmas or weddings.
"Grandma's fruitcake gets soaked in brandy every December."
2
An eccentric or crazy person (informal).
"He's a bit of a fruitcake, but he means well."
How to Use Fruitcake
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA rich cake full of dried fruit, or informally, a strange or crazy person.
Common pairings
nutty as a fruitcake
Christmas fruitcake
Word Forms
fruitcakes plural
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Grandma's _____ gets soaked in brandy every December.
Etymology
A compound of fruit and cake, first recorded around 1687; the "crazy person" sense (as in "nutty as a fruitcake") appeared much later, in the 1950s.