Topsy
noun
noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Something or someone who figuratively grows without control or intention.
"They employ a symbolism which grew like Topsy and has little consistency […]"
Example
More examples"They employ a symbolism which grew like Topsy and has little consistency […]"
Etymology
After a character in Harriet Beecher Stowe's novel Uncle Tom's Cabin (1852), who, asked about God, says "I s'pect I growed. Don't think nobody never made me." The sense of excessive out-of-control growth is a misunderstanding.
Related phrases
More for "topsy"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.