pokey

[poh-kee]

noun

Slang.

plural

pokeys 

1. Usually the pokey a jail.

   They put him in the pokey for carrying a concealed weapon.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pokey¹

First recorded in 1915–20; origin uncertain; possibly a variant of pogey ( def. )

Example Sentences

The pacing can be pokey — elegiac if you prefer — between the big action scenes, which can be disturbingly violent.

From Los Angeles Times

Like the movie, whose commercial and critical success suggests people approve, it’s pokey and self-serious and almost entirely devoid of humor.

From Los Angeles Times

Give me your losers and laggards, your pokey puppies who limbo right under rock-bottom expectations and then have to go home and lie down.

From New York Times

One person’s methodical structuring is what another might deem pokey or too much effort for a piece of entertainment.

From Salon

She’s a big personality, chatty, colorfully dressed, a ray of sunshine, easily distracted, insanely friendly; she offers a killer a cookie even as he’s being packed off to the pokey.

From Los Angeles Times

When To Use

What does pokey mean?

Pokey is a slang term for jail. It’s typically used with the article the, as in Sal got arrested and spent a night in the pokey. Pokey can also be used to describe someone or something that moves slowly. This sense of word is intended to be negative or insulting.Less commonly, it can be used as an adjective meaning small and cramped, as in There’s no way we can have a party in this pokey little apartment. Pokey can also be spelled poky.Example: If it were up to me, all these pokey drivers would spend a night in the pokey—the pokier the cell the better.