cozy

Rarely co·zie,
Or co·sy

[koh-zee]

adjective

cozier, coziest 

1. comfortable and snug.

   We live in a cozy little house with a small garden in the back.

   Synonyms: sheltered, homey, comfy, snug

2. convenient or beneficial, usually as a result of dishonesty or connivance.

   A very cozy agreement between competing firms had kept the industry profitable for years.

3. suggesting opportunistic or conspiratorial intimacy.

   The exposé revealed a cozy relationship between lobbyists and some politicians.

4. discreetly reticent or noncommittal.

   The administrators are remaining cozy about which policy they plan to adopt.

5. relating to a genre of mystery stories with little suspense, explicit violence, or sexual content, often also having amateur sleuths and idyllic, intimate settings.

   I read lots of different books, but I like cozy mysteries best.

   Charming characters and just the right amount of danger make this cozy series a delight to read.

noun

plural

cozies 

1. a padded covering for a teapot or coffeepot to retain the heat of the contents.

2. a mystery story with little suspense, explicit violence, or sexual content, often also having amateur sleuths and idyllic, intimate settings.

   I started out reading cozies and moved on to the hard-boiled detective novels.

verb (used with object)

cozied, cozying 

1. to make more warm or comfortable (often followed byup ).

   New curtains would cozy the room up a bit.

verb phrase

1. cozy up (to)

   1. to move closer for comfort or affection.

      Come over to the fire and cozy up a bit.

   2. to try to become friendly or intimate in order to further one's own ends; attempt to ingratiate oneself.

      He's always cozying up to the boss.

cozy

/ ˈkəʊzɪ /

adjective

1. the usual US spelling of cosy

Other Word Forms

• cozily adverb
• coziness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cozy¹

First recorded in 1700–10; from Scots colsie, perhaps from Scandinavian; compare Norwegian koselig “cozy,” kose seg “to enjoy oneself”

Example Sentences

“I manifested it right here,” she says as she waves an arm around the cozy cabaret tucked inside the Sun Rose hotel on — where else?

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Halloween, for all its associations with extremes of terror, is also bound up in the cozy innocence of childhood memories, and to my mind, few movies fit that duality better than “The Fog.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

“It was a cozy, but still roomy space that felt festive and provided the best people watching below,” she says.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Just like butterflies grow inside a cocoon, planets form inside the cozy belly of protoplanetary discs.

Read more on Space Scoop

As readers of The Bite know, we’ve been in the midst of a cozy little series on weeknight, seasonal baking.

Read more on Salon

Related Words

• comfortable 
• comfy 
• cushy 
• intimate 
• snug