coxcombry

American  

[koks-kohm-ree] / ˈkɒksˌkoʊm ri /

noun

plural

coxcombries

1. the manners or behavior of a coxcomb.

2. a foppish trait.

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coxcombry British  

/ ˈkɒksˌkəʊmrɪ /

noun

1. conceited arrogance or foppishness

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Etymology

Origin of coxcombry

First recorded in 1600–10; coxcomb + -ry

Example Sentences

When his interest in a person flagged, he lacked the coxcombry that makes a man afraid that his lack of interest has broken a woman’s heart.

From The Heart's Country by Vorse, Mary Heaton

Rome and Florence, and they would be quits with him and his "coxcombry."

From Browning's Heroines by Armfield, Maxwell

It is assuming the frivolity, the waste of time, the coxcombry, and all the disadvantages of music, without any of its substantial benefits.

From The Mirror of Taste, and Dramatic Censor, Vol. I, No. 5, May 1810 by Carpenter, S. C. (Stephen Cullen)

But Howell was not only much more of a gossip than Izaak; he was also a good deal of a coxcomb, while Walton was destitute of even a trace of coxcombry.

From A History of Elizabethan Literature by Saintsbury, George

The puppyism and coxcombry of such a wager might have been pardoned, were it not that the character of the individual, when sober, was in perfect accordance with this drunken boast.

From Jack Hinton The Guardsman by Lever, Charles James