Meanings
plural Tom Swifties · alternative Tom Swiftie
- A humorous phrase in which a supposed quotation is linked by a pun to the manner in which it is attributed.
Since then the Tom Swifty has trudged on, not exactly swiftly but with an impressive staying power. You can find Web sites that list as many as nine hundred of them. As the above examples suggest, Tom Swifties are virtually never funny, but they illustrate an adverb-centered sin against writing.
2008, Ben Yagoda, When You Catch an Adjective, Kill It, Crown, →ISBN, page 50
Origin
Referring to the Tom Swift series of books, whose authors frequently avoided the word "said" in favour of other constructions, + -y.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Tom Swifty. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Swifty
“Tom Swifty.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Swifty. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Tom Swifty,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Tom%20Swifty.
Source: Tom Swifty on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.