poky

[poh-kee]

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

puttering; slow; dull: poky drivers.

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

(of dress) dowdy.

noun, plural pok·ies.

Slang. a jail: They put him in the poky for carrying a concealed weapon.

Origin of poky

First recorded in 1840–50; poke¹ + -y¹

Related formspok·i·ly, adverbpok·i·ness, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for poky

small, confined, shabby

Examples from the Web for poky

Contemporary Examples of poky

“Come on,” she urged the poky car as it struggled up the slope.
Running for Her Life
Stephen L. Carter
July 14, 2009

Historical Examples of poky

I wouldn't have you go prowling about this poky old place for anything.
Thankful's Inheritance
Joseph C. Lincoln
But I'm due in a poky little place in Massachusetts called Enderby.
Elsie Marley, Honey
Joslyn Gray
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
We never have parties in Tideshead, except at the vestry in the winter; and they're so poky.
Betty Leicester
Sarah Orne Jewett
But you just swallow it all, and then you get to be so poky a body has no comfort in life.
The Faith Doctor
Edward Eggleston

British Dictionary definitions for poky

poky

pokey

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 Formspokily, 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

Word Origin and History for poky

adj.

also pokey, 1828, "confined, pinched, shabby," later (1856) "slow, dull;" from varied senses of poke (v.) + -y (2). Also cf. poke (n.3). Related: Pokily; pokiness.