cocky

adjective, cock·i·er, cock·i·est.

arrogant; pertly self-assertive; conceited: He walked in with a cocky air.

Origin:
1540–50; cock¹ + -y¹

Related forms

cock·i·ly, adverb

cock·i·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged

noun, plural cock·ies.

Australian.

cockatoo ( def 1 ).

cockatoo ( def 2a ).

cockatiel.

Origin:
1885–90; cock(atoo), cock(atiel) + -y²

00:10

Cocky is always a great word to know.

So is slumgullion. Does it mean:

a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.

a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.

LEARN MORE UNUSUAL WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...

verb (used without object), cock·ied, cock·y·ing. Newfoundland.

copy ( def 19 ).

Origin:
apparently a playful alteration, by association with cocky¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source

Link To cocky

Collins

World English Dictionary

cocky¹ (ˈkɒkɪ)

—*adj* , cockier, cockiest
	excessively proud of oneself

'cockily¹

—*adv*

cocky² (ˈkɒkɪ)

—n , pl cockies
1.	short for cockatoo
2.	a farmer whose farm is regarded as small or of little account

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source

Etymonline

Word Origin & History

cocky

"arrogantly pert" (1768) originally meant "lecherous" (16c.); from cock (n.1). Related: Cockiness (1864).

Matching Quote

"With one fist clenched behind his head, heel drawn up to thigh
The cocky little ogre dozes off, ready,
Though, to take on the rest
Of the world at the drop of a hat or the mildest
Nudge of the impossible,"

-W.H. Auden

Upgrade to Ad-free Premium Membership!

Related Words

boss cocky boastful bumptious cockish

cocksure copy rooster self-assured