noun
cupcake
KUHP-kayk
noun
1
A small individual cake, usually baked in a paper or foil cup and topped with icing.
"She brought a tray of chocolate cupcakes to the office party."
"Each kid got their own cupcake with sprinkles on top."
2
Informal: a soft or easily beaten opponent, or someone seen as weak.
"The champions dismissed the underdogs as a bunch of cupcakes before the final."
How to Use Cupcake
Learner’s notesIn plain EnglishA single-serving cake baked in a small cup-shaped mold, or (informally) a weak, easy opponent.
Common pairings
bake cupcakes
a batch of cupcakes
frost a cupcake
Word Forms
cupcaked past tense, cupcakes plural, cupcakes singular
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She brought a tray of chocolate _____ to the office party.
Etymology
A simple compound of cup and cake — the cake was originally baked in small cup-shaped molds or actual teacups.