An object of the present invention is to provide novel dextrin fatty acid ester that is excellent in tackiness and useful as a base for cosmetics and the like. The novel dextrin fatty acid ester is prepared by esterification between dextrin and fatty acids, wherein the dextrin has an average degree of glucose polymerization of 3 to 150; the fatty acids comprise more than 50 mol% and 100 mol% or less, based on the total amount of the fatty acids, of one or more saturated branched fatty acids having 4 to 26 carbon atoms, and 0 mol% or more and less than 50 mol%, based on the total amount of the fatty acids, of one or more fatty acids selected from the group consisting of saturated linear fatty acids having 2 to 22 carbon atoms, unsaturated linear or branched fatty acids having 6 to 30 carbon atoms, and saturated or unsaturated cyclic fatty acids having 6 to 30 carbon atoms; and the degree of substitution by the fatty acids is 1.0 to 3.0 per glucose unit.