coxcomb
Americannoun
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a conceited, foolish dandy; pretentious fop.
- Synonyms:
- jackanapes, popinjay, dude
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Archaic. head; pate.
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Obsolete. cockscomb.
noun
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a variant spelling of cockscomb
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archaic a foppish man
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obsolete the cap, resembling a cock's comb, worn by a jester
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of coxcomb
First recorded in 1565–75; spelling variant of cockscomb
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.
Stone, a coxcomb who occasionally texts reporters pictures of outfits he’s particularly proud of, no doubt already has his congressional-testimony suit picked out.
From The New Yorker ● May 31, 2017
Johnson had already said of his former friend, “Hawkesworth is grown a coxcomb, and I have done with him”.
From The Guardian ● Jan. 13, 2017
And here’s Charles Dickens, a preening coxcomb prepared to spend eternity congratulating himself on his own literary reputation.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 5, 2016
Dara Singh, a wrestler who wore the title Rustam-e-Hind, Champion of India, like a bright, brash coxcomb, was an exponent of the Indo-Turkic pehelwani style of wrestling.
From Newsweek ● Jul. 16, 2012
Dear Header, Nature has sometimes made a fool; but a coxcomb is always of man’s own making.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
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.
