joey
/ˈd͡ʒoʊ.i/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.92 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
4
Letters
2
Syllables
4
Unique Chars
Meaning
Example Sentences
- "As soon as a joey is born, it crawls into its mother's pouch. The joey grows in the pouch."
- "Among the kangaroo words that yield the most joviality and joy are those that conceal multiple joeys."
- "Sometimes a kangaroo word has more than one joey."
- ""Visit in two days though," said Tommo. "Hang in there mate, got a joey coming, we'll be sweet then.""
- "a joey of brandy"
- "Indeed what do the tensomethings, who might be watching the show at that hour, make of jokes like Joey telling Chandler that his uncle Sal has a really big tongue."
Etymology
Unknown. Older and more general sources state that joey comes from an Australian Aboriginal language (cited as joè), but newer sources that focus on Australian English and Aboriginal languages say the origin is unknown. The Australian National Dictionary includes a sense of “young possum” with citations predating the earliest “young kangaroo” citations.
Usage
- Australian usage
- Slang
- British usage
- Dated
- Derogatory
- Offensive
- Obsolete