fruitcake - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

Compound of fruit +‎ cake. First attested in c. 1687. Sense 2, predated by nutty as a fruitcake, was first attested in c. 1952.

fruitcake (countable and uncountable, plural fruitcakes)

  1. A cake containing dried fruits and, optionally, nuts, citrus peel and spice; usually served in celebration of weddings and Christmas.
  2. (colloquial, derogatory) A crazy or eccentric person. [from 1950s]
    • 1952, Mickey Spillane, Kiss me Deadl, page 7:
      Easy, feller, easy. She's a fruitcake.
    • 1962, Ken Kesey, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, New York: Signet, published 1963, page 205:
      One of the loafers kept calling down, "Hey you, Blondie, you like fruitcake kids like that?"
    • 2006 April 4, Ros Taylor, quoting David Cameron, “Cameron refuses to apologise to Ukip”, in The Guardian‎[1], →ISSN:
      "Ukip is sort of a bunch of … fruitcakes and loonies and closet racists mostly," Mr Cameron told LBC radio.
  3. (US, slang, colloquial, derogatory, dated) A homosexual male.
    Synonym: fruit

cake

homosexual

Compound of fruit (“fruit”) +‎ cake (“cake”).

fruitcake m (plural fruitcakes, diminutive fruitcakeje n)

  1. a fruitcake, cake flavored with fruit