maccaroni

M3A1C3C3A1R1O1N1I1

A form of macaroni — A type of pasta in the form of short tubes, typically boiled and served in soup, with a sauce, or in melted cheese; a dish of this.

Scrabble 15

Meanings

nounmaccaroni (countable and uncountable, plural maccaronis)

plural maccaronis

  1. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of macaroni (“a type of pasta”).

    […]there were stalls of bread, wine, and fruit, and little cook[-]shops with fires in the open air, frying meat, boiling maccaroni, minestra verde and other good things.

    1824 October, “Walk to Paestum, Leucosia, &c. Part II.”, in The London Magazine, volume X, London: […] Taylor and Hessey, […], page 412
    2 more examples

    Lamb would have been too dear, and small kid too unsubstantial, for people in their circumstances, but they had had their spezzato, or cut of mutton, with some coarse maccaroni for dinner, and had done so much justice to them that nothing was left for us but some eggs, cheese, and cassatiello, or Easter bread.

    1835 May 2, [Charles Macfarlane], “Some Recollections of the Easter Holidays in the South of Italy”, in The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, volume IV, number 198, London: Charles Knight, […]. New York; William Jackson, […]. Boston; Joseph H. Francis, […], page 175

    There is an all-pervading smell of petrol and heavily garlic’d cooking, for these small families are still eating the minestra verde and maccaroni as prepared by Emma’s cook, Mariana.

    1969, Mollie Hardwick, “‘O Attic shape, fair Attitude!’”, in Emma, Lady Hamilton, New York, N.Y.; Chicago, Ill.; San Francisco, Calif.: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, published 1970, →ISBN, page 40
  2. alternativecountableuncountableAlternative form of macaroni (“a fop, a dandy”).

    A nearer glance at his dress had satisfied Toole that he was too much of a maccaroni for an artist, and he was thinking of placing him upon the lord lieutenant's staff.

    1863, Sheridan Le Fanu, The House by the Churchyard

Origin

  1. Italianmaccaroni
  2. Englishmaccaroni

From Italian maccaroni. Doublet of macaroni, macaron, and macaroon.

Full word history & related roots →

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

maccaroni. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maccaroni

MLA

“maccaroni.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maccaroni. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “maccaroni,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/maccaroni.

Source: maccaroni on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.