cocky
/ˈkɑki/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.39 in modern English
16
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
Used as a term of endearment, originally for a person of either sex, but later primarily for a man.
British usage; Colloquial; Dated
noun
Clipping of cockatoo farmer (“small-scale farmer”); (by extension) any farmer or owner of rural land.
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; Informal
verb
To operate a small-scale farm.
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; Informal; Intransitive verb
Example Sentences
- "And now I think I may be cocky, / Since fortune has ſmurtl'd on me, / I'm Jenny, an' ye ſhall be Jockie, / 'Tis right we together ſud be; [...]"
- "Pretty girls, indeed, can with impunity, menace their lovers with quitting them; but cocky Waithman, will, if he try it often, soon find, that he cannot play such tricks without having to repent of it."
- "You are a cockie chap to go again a man axing where and what you 'a been when you are axing a place, [...]"
- "Hodges has made a great fool of himself, by getting gradually cockier and cockier."
- "I wasn't the least bit proud. I dare say I was one of the least cocky creatures in existence these days."
- "When Yvette came out of the bathroom, I said baby turn on the cd player. For what the only singing you gonna hear is your own when I get up in you. She's getting cockey I thought."
Etymology
From cock (“male domestic chicken”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives with the sense of ‘having the quality of’).
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /ˈkɑki/
- British English: /ˈkɒki/