cocky
1 Americanadjective
-
cockier,
comparative
-
cockiest
superlative
verb (used without object)
noun
-
short for cockatoo
-
a farmer whose farm is regarded as small or of little account
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of cocky1
First recorded in 1540–50; cock 1 + -y 1
Origin of cocky2
First recorded in 1830–40; cock(atoo), cock(atiel) + -y 2
Origin of cocky3
Apparently a playful alteration, by association with cocky 1
Explanation
Cocky means "overly self-confident," like a cocky announcement at the beginning of the season that your soccer team will win the championship without even trying. Cocky originally meant "lecherous," or lustful, but evolved to mean "arrogantly pert" in the 1700s. Cocky people don't usually stop at bragging about themselves — they'll cut you in line at the grocery store, because they think they are too important to wait. Synonyms for cocky are conceited, egotistical, and the phrase "full of himself/herself."
Vocabulary lists containing cocky
Emotions on Display
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"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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Long Way Down
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
El-Sayed admits he can be cocky, and the result called for an immediate conciliatory tone to welcome skeptical Stevens voters.
From Slate ● Aug. 8, 2026
Hopkins registered the trademark in 2018 and began contacting authors who had also used the descriptor — and the list was long, because the cocky, arrogant hero is a romance trope.
From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2026
Built by "Hitman" developers IO Interactive, "First Light" offers a new version of Bond's origin story, dropping players into the shoes of a cocky but callow young version of the spy still earning his stripes.
From Barron's ● May 26, 2026
Bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny was powerful as Kurwenal, his cocky sarcasm of Act 1 giving way to the caretaker’s forced optimism in Act 3.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 11, 2026
“Man, we ain’t on no battlefield,” Grandpop replied, cocky.
From "As Brave As You" by Jason Reynolds
“Bricks seemed to work for a while, but cockies got too clever,” one survey respondent reported.
From New York Times ● Sep. 12, 2022
“If we’re not doing it, the cockies will blast them,” Mr. White said, using a slang term for small-scale farmers.
From New York Times ● May 22, 2021
Dahlstrom is most comfortable away from the office, out in the ute, visiting cockies, tradesmen and factory managers.
From Time Magazine Archive
He was not going to squat henlike on his place as the cockies around him did.
From My Brilliant Career by Miles Franklin
Why, where I live there's dozens of English public school men working as cockies and jackaroos.
From The Kangaroo Marines by R. W. Campbell
If that’s not enough meta-weirdness for you, throughout the movie, Nick regularly converses with a younger, cockier version of himself, “Nicky,” who goads him to recapture his former stardom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 21, 2022
Despite having been one of the Endurance's cockier crew members, Ms Clague said her grandfather was a much quieter man once he came home.
From BBC ● Feb. 26, 2022
Also: Is there anything cockier than wearing sunglasses inside a government building?
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2019
Deng and Chen tried to build their own small version of campus life, with Deng taking the cockier, worldly lead and Chen playing his sidekick.
From New York Times ● Aug. 9, 2017
There was something so much cockier about him this year, even the way he stood and walked, like there was more weight in his gait—he never hurried anymore.
From "Tradition" by Brendan Kiely
Hamlin without a doubt was the cockiest of the four championship drivers leading into Sunday, undoubtedly soaking in his self-inflicted chaos.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 6, 2021
Especially in recent years, as the city grapples with what often feels like an unending stream of plopped-in arrivals from New York, the country’s cockiest metropolis.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2020
It’s remarkable that he can actually swing with that trophy around his waist, but this is AK, maybe the cockiest 24-year-old to ever wield a club.
From Golf Digest ● Apr. 1, 2020
In “The Right Stuff” Tom Wolfe revealed that the seven Mercury astronauts – the cockiest, most sneeringly confident fighter pilots on the planet – were terrified all the time.
From Forbes ● Oct. 22, 2014
Usually he's the cockiest person round this building.
From The Escape of Mr. Trimm His Plight and other Plights by Irvin S. (Irvin Shrewsbury) Cobb
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
