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.
any peafowl.
a vain, self-conscious person.
Astronomy. Peacock, the constellation Pavo.
a male peafowl, having a crested head and a very large fanlike tail marked with blue and green eyelike spots
another name for peafowl
a vain strutting person
to display (oneself) proudly
obsolete to acquire (the best pieces of land) in such a way that the surrounding land is useless to others
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 )
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.
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Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
He doesn’t peacock, he doesn’t preen; he is visibly angry with himself when he doesn’t produce.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Sandy said her husband had phoned her up on Monday, "ever so excited" and revealed they had a new addition at the farm in the form of the peacock.
From BBC ● Apr. 17, 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
“If you don’t, we can do something together...like the peacock and the...What would go well with a peacock?”
From "Amina's Voice" by Hena Khan
NBCUniversal’s Peacock is stretching its wings by joining the subscription YouTube Premium service — a significant boost for the streaming platform that has struggled to find its niche in the increasingly crowded landscape.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
Species that can be recorded during the survey include the Peacock, Holly Blue, Red Admiral, Brimstone and Small Copper.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
Peacock reported a 54% increase in revenue from the prior-year period, to $1.9 billion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 23, 2026
Co-CEO Mike Cavanagh said that performance “reinforces the value of NBC, Telemundo, Bravo, and Peacock together as one integrated media business with continued opportunity to drive stronger engagement, advertising, and profitability into the future.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
They were six weeks away from Operation Peacock, and this was a serious wrench in the monkey works.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
For all the talk about horses, the Kentucky Derby has a lot of peacocks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026
Sunset runs amid free-roaming peacocks and ghaf trees in a surprisingly rural area behind the skyscrapers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 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
The Ryde Hotel staff are desperately missing their favorite occupants — the gorgeous peacocks known to fawn about on the orchard-lined banks of the Sacramento River and mischievously wander through the hotel’s banquet hall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2025
“Your peacocks might dispute that,” said Ser Balon.
From "A Dance with Dragons" by George R. R. Martin
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
He let his blue eyes rest upon them calmly as they peacocked across to St. George's Hospital, still laughing, and evidently discussing him.
From The Green Carnation by Hichens, Robert Smythe
No peacocking and no polyester are among 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
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
There is a boastfulness and peacocking at times.
From Salon ● Jan. 25, 2023
You surely would not have us a couple of mincing girls peacocking round in this fashion, would you now?'
From The Captain's Bunk A Story for Boys by Manwell, M. B.
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.
