poky

[ poh-kee ]

/ ˈpoʊ ki /

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adjective, pok·i·er, pok·i·est.Informal.

moving or acting slowly or ineffectively; slow; dull: poky drivers.

(of a place) small and cramped: a poky little room.

(of dress) dowdy.

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Origin of poky

First recorded in 1825–30; poke¹ + -y¹

OTHER WORDS FROM poky

pok·i·ly, adverbpok·i·ness, noun

Words nearby poky

poker machine, pokerwork, pokeweed, pokey, pokie, poky, pol, Pola, Polabian, Polack, polacre

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use poky in a sentence

Actually flying it to the moon will be another matter, and Peregrine’s trip to the lunar surface will be a comparatively patient and poky one.
How Pittsburgh Is Leading the U.S. Back to the Moon|Jeffrey Kluger|June 23, 2022|Time
The spot was miles from anywhere, on the side of a hill whose poky desert plants scrape anyone who walks by, and over which wild horses keep watch.
A CIA spyplane crashed outside Area 51 a half-century ago. This explorer found it.|Sarah Scoles|January 5, 2021|Popular-Science
The partners’ goal was making underwriting, the poky part in the middle, fully electronic.
First he took energy trading and the NYSE electronic. Now Jeff Sprecher of ICE shares his plans to digitize your mortgage|Shawn Tully|September 2, 2020|Fortune
“Come on,” she urged the poky car as it struggled up the slope.
Running for Her Life|Stephen L. Carter|July 14, 2009|DAILY BEAST

It's rather a poky place, you know, mamma, and in India I suppose the houses are all enormous.
Robin Redbreast|Mary Louisa Molesworth
It is monstrous to think of burying his talents in a poky little hole like Whitford.
A Charming Fellow, Volume II (of 3)|Frances Eleanor Trollope
We used to have a house, of course, before uncle died, and you know how poky rooms seem after that.
In Accordance with the Evidence|Oliver Onions
The children are behaving as well as can be, and Sykes too; and it's not a poky house, by any means.
Sarah's School Friend|May Baldwin
Somehow Ebenezer did not seem just a poky old farm horse, as Twinkleheels had always regarded him.
The Tale of Pony Twinkleheels|Arthur Scott Bailey

British Dictionary definitions for poky

poky

pokey

/ (ˈpəʊkɪ) /

adjective pokier or pokiest

informal (esp of rooms) small and cramped

without speed or energy; slow

noun

the poky mainly US and Canadian slang prison

Derived forms of poky

pokily, adverbpokiness, noun

Word Origin for poky

C19: from poke 1 (in slang sense: to confine)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

poky

Origin of poky

OTHER WORDS FROM poky

Words nearby poky

Words related to poky

How to use poky in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for poky

pokey

Derived forms of poky

Word Origin for poky