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• peacock
  peacock

  noun

  the male of the peafowl distinguished by its long, erectile, greenish, iridescent tail coverts that are brilliantly marked with ocellated spots and that can be spread in a fan.
• Peacock
  Peacock

  noun

  Thomas Love, 1785–1866, English poet and novelist.

peacock

¹ American  

[pee-kok] / ˈpiˌkɒk /

noun

• peacocks,
  plural
• peacock
  plural

1. the male of the peafowl distinguished by its long, erectile, greenish, iridescent tail coverts that are brilliantly marked with ocellated spots and that can be spread in a fan.

2. any peafowl.

3. a vain, self-conscious person.

4. Astronomy. Peacock, the constellation Pavo.

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verb (used without object)

• peacocks,
  present (3rd person singular)
• peacocked,
  past participle,  past
• peacocking
  present participle

1. to make a vainglorious display; strut like a peacock.

Peacock ² American  

[pee-kok] / ˈpiˌkɒk /

noun

1. Thomas Love, 1785–1866, English poet and novelist.

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peacock ¹ British  

/ ˈpiːˌkɒk /

noun

1. a male peafowl, having a crested head and a very large fanlike tail marked with blue and green eyelike spots

2. another name for peafowl

3. a vain strutting person

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verb

1. to display (oneself) proudly

2. obsolete to acquire (the best pieces of land) in such a way that the surrounding land is useless to others

Peacock ² British  

/ ˈpiːˌkɒk /

noun

1. Thomas Love. 1785–1866, English novelist and poet, noted for his satirical romances, including Headlong Hall (1816) and Nightmare Abbey (1818)

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peacock Idioms  

1. see proud as a peacock.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• peacockery
  noun
• peacockishness
  noun
• peacockism
  noun
• peahen
  noun
• peacockish
  adjective
• peacocky
  adjective
• peacockishly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• peacock
  plural
• peacocks
  plural

Participles

• peacocking
  present
• peacocked
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• peacock
  simple
• peacocks
  simple
• have peacocked
  perfect
• has peacocked
  perfect
• am peacocking
  progressive
• are peacocking
  progressive
• is peacocking
  progressive
• have been peacocking
  perfect progressive
• has been peacocking
  perfect progressive

Past

• peacocked
  simple
• had peacocked
  perfect
• was peacocking
  progressive
• were peacocking
  progressive
• had been peacocking
  perfect progressive

Future

• will peacock
  simple
• will have peacocked
  perfect
• will be peacocking
  progressive
• will have been peacocking
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of peacock

First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English pecok, pocok equivalent to pe- ( Old English pēa “peafowl,” from Latin pāvōn-, stem of pavō peacock ( def. ) ) + cok ( Old English coc cock ¹ )

Explanation

A peacock is a shiny blue bird who fans out his large colorful iridescent tail feathers, especially when he’s flirting with the peahens. A peacock is a male peafowl. A male peacock is more flamboyant than his female counterpart — he’s the one with those long brilliant tail feathers marked with eye-like designs. If a man (a human!) dresses overly flashy, he’s “peacocking.” The writer Flannery O’ Connor was famous for having peacocks strut around her farm in Georgia. Peacocks also have a loud call that sounds almost like a human cry. The word peacock has many etymological influences, and it may ultimately come from the Tamil tokei.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

peacock Peacock peacocks peacocked peacocking

Gina Davis, a Pasadena schoolteacher, was worried when she learned that a peacock who had lived in her neighborhood for years was found disoriented and wouldn’t eat or drink.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

The peacock is currently at Pasadena Humane’s Wildlife Center, the group confirmed to The Times.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026

From her perch in New Orleans, she has also reported on natural disasters, the big business of Mardi Gras and her neighborhood peacock, Mr. P.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026

This week, Rausch’s fellow Traitors, Housewives Candiace Dillard Bassett and Lisa Rinna, get to peacock in a massive crown and, for Rinna, a brooch as bewitching as it is deadly.

From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2026

Inej glimpsed peacock feathers in the parlor, and her heart stuttered.

From "Six of Crows" by Leigh Bardugo

While the ceremony and red carpet is mostly confined to the Peacock Theater, the set-up around it is vast.

From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026

Get real-time updates on the winners and top moments from the NBC broadcast and Peacock stream.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

The 78th Emmy Awards begin Monday at 5 p.m. at the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026

The stars of TV’s biggest shows walked the red carpet at Los Angeles’s Peacock Theater before the 78th Primetime Emmy Awards on Monday evening.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 14, 2026

The yacht had been sold to MoMo B. ChaCha through various channels because it was a symbol of wicked American excess, which The Peacock publicly disdained.

From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

“The house was small, so we built onto it to add a kitchen. We use the barns as a sanctuary for rescued horses, ducks, chickens, peacocks, goats, and other animals,” she went on.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 2, 2026

Night is falling in Altadena as bats circle, peacocks wail and photographer Kevin Cooley tries to capture what’s left of a tree.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026

For all the talk about horses, the Kentucky Derby has a lot of peacocks.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

On the course, elaborate tombs of the city's past rulers poke through tangled trees that are home to peacocks, troops of monkeys and mongooses.

From Barron's ● Oct. 18, 2025

Lions were regal and courageous; peacocks were proud; ants were industrious; foxes were cunning.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

In a choreographic sequence during the final seconds of his program, Malinin peacocked to the fans—and judges—with the kind of daring maneuver that’s more common on snow than ice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026

Charles’s coronation was a full-color spectacle, showing off the peacocked glory of British tradition and the bells and whistles of 21st-century TV.

From New York Times ● May 6, 2023

Stone-faced men in suits with badges pinned to their belts peacocked around.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 15, 2022

Nothing about the way that pair peacocked their way around Augusta National Golf Club during Saturday’s third round indicated they have any intention of allowing those behind them in on their personal tournament.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 7, 2018

Remember that he also is suspected of being an outlaw, in that you saw him once use a peacocked arrow.

From Robin Hood by N. C. (Newell Convers) Wyeth

No peacocking and no polyester are among the codes junior bankers typically learn by breaking them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026

"So I could see how he might be funny about actors who were peacocking themselves," he said.

From BBC ● Mar. 1, 2025

Inevitably, the group’s career cooled throughout the ’90s and early 2000s as peacocking hard rock gave way to grunge and pop-punk.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2024

It was a novel turn for an artist venerated for his dexterity, his peacocking, his exuberance, his progressivism.

From New York Times ● Feb. 2, 2024

He is drily humorous as he shows us some plumaged General peacocking on foot, or swelling with Napoleonic pride as he caracoles by on his horse.

From Promenades of an Impressionist by James Huneker

Related Words

• bluster
• gloat
• prance
• sashay
• saunter
• strut