moccasin

American  

[mok-uh-sin, -zuhn] / ˈmɒk ə sɪn, -zən /

noun

moccasins plural

1. a heelless shoe made entirely of soft leather, as deerskin, with the sole brought up and attached to a piece of u -shaped leather on top of the foot, worn originally by the American Indians.

2. a hard-soled shoe or slipper resembling this, often decorated with beads.

3. any of several North American snakes of the genus Agkistrodon (Ancistrodon ), especially the cottonmouth.

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moccasin British  

/ ˈmɒkəsɪn /

noun

1. a shoe of soft leather, esp deerskin, worn by North American Indians

2. any soft shoe resembling this

3. a sheepshearer's footgear, usually made of sacking

4. short for water moccasin

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• moccasins
  plural

Etymology

Origin of moccasin

1605–15, < Virginia Algonquian < Proto-Algonquian *maxkeseni

Compare meaning

How does moccasin compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• water snake vs. moccasin

Explanation

If you lose a moccasin on your way to work, it means you'll be walking around with only one shoe all day. A moccasin is a soft leather slip-on shoe. Virginian Algonquins get credit for the word moccasin, though a relative of it existed in other American Indian languages to designate a leather shoe so elegant in design that it's now known around the world. Less well known, perhaps, is the correct spelling, which you see here. Everyone seems to know there's a double letter but fewer remember that it's the c, not the s.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

moccasin moccasins

A water moccasin may glide silently past, and a few times we’ve seen iridescent alligator eyes peering out at us before they sank back down into the depths.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 2, 2023

Her team then checked this in a variety of snakes - dissecting a total of nine species including the carpet python, puff adder and Mexican moccasin.

From BBC ● Dec. 14, 2022

“He was kind of a grumpy snake, and everybody was going, ‘Omigod, omigod, it's a water moccasin, kill it!’” she recollects.

From Scientific American ● Sep. 18, 2022

She wore a dark jacket over a sky-blue, rainbow-trimmed ribbon skirt embroidered with imagery of butterflies, stars and corn; moccasin boots; a turquoise and silver belt and necklace; and dragonfly earrings.

From New York Times ● Dec. 8, 2021

The kid who suggests the Shoemakers in honor of the old moccasin factory is laughed out of the auditorium.

From "Speak" by Laurie Halse Anderson

“I had a fully beaded diaper bag. I had beaded moccasins before I could walk.”

From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2024

Born on Montana’s Blackfeet Indian Reservation, Gladstone has worn tennis shoes, scuffed boots and fur-trimmed moccasins for publicity appearances, often with another accessory or pattern that recalls her Siksikaitsitapi and Nez Perce heritage.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 30, 2024

Mattel should have considered traditional pucker toe moccasins, instead of black shoes, and included symbols on the basket that Cherokees use to tell a story, she said.

From Washington Times ● Dec. 4, 2023

Soft high top hiking boots, moccasins and loafers finished the looks, with jewelry of polished stone or raw amethyst.

From Seattle Times ● Jun. 17, 2023

Doc rolled up his wool socks and put them in the rubber boots and from his pocket he brought out dry socks and a pair of thin moccasins.

From "Cannery Row" by John Steinbeck

Related Words

• sandal