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• ponce
  ponce

  noun

  a pimp.
• Ponce
  Ponce

  noun

  a seaport in S Puerto Rico.

ponce

¹ American  

[pons] / pɒns /

noun

British Slang.

• ponces
  plural

1. a pimp.

2. a campily effeminate male.

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Ponce ² American  

[pawn-se] / ˈpɔn sɛ /

noun

1. a seaport in S Puerto Rico.

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ponce ¹ British  

/ pɒns /

noun

1. a man given to ostentatious or effeminate display in manners, speech, dress, etc

2. another word for pimp 1

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verb

1. (intr; often foll by around or about) to act like a ponce

Ponce ² British  

/ ˈpɔnθe /

noun

1. a port in S Puerto Rico, on the Caribbean: the second largest town on the island; settled in the 16th century. Pop: 185 930 (2003 est)

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• ponces
  plural

Etymology

Origin of ponce

First recorded in 1870–75; of obscure origin

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

ponce Ponce ponces

Ms. Conner added, “We also have ponce, my favorite. It’s the pig stomach. It tastes like a big, giant sausage.”

From New York Times ● Feb. 20, 2020

If there was someone I liked, I’d worm my way under his nose, then, well, ponce about until he noticed me: peacocking.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 4, 2017

"I think it makes you look a bit of a ponce, to be honest, though who am I to tell Mr Tevez what to wear?"

From The Guardian ● Dec. 5, 2010

Stand-up – at the risk of sounding like a total ponce – is an ephemeral experience that occupies the space between comic and audience.

From The Guardian ● Jul. 31, 2010

I know a good many places where Amen should be scratched out, rubbed over with ponce made of Momus’s little finger bones, and in its place Twang-dillo-dee written.

From Letters of John Keats to His Family and Friends by John Keats

When the slumming Ponce, who lives somewhere else and who picked up a semblance of education, tries to explain that all earthly agriculture is reliant on bees, he gets blowback.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026

Ponce and Brizuela were also fringe contributors; they didn’t see any minutes in Brazil 2014.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 30, 2026

Rosa Thurnher, owner of El Ponce restaurant and a board member of the Independent Restaurant Coalition, said businesses have noticed changes in tipping behaviour since World Cup fans arrived.

From BBC ● Jun. 26, 2026

If she forgets to take her seizure medication, Ponce said, she can have several episodes a day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 14, 2026

‘I don’t know the whole story. My ancestors lived in Spain when it was a Roman province. My great- great-something-something-grandfather was a conquistador. He came over to Puerto Rico with Ponce de Leon.’

From "Blood of Olympus" by Rick Riordan

A vote for Bregetables Speaking of gullible middle-class foodie ponces: on Sunday I needed some special mushrooms.

From The Guardian ● Feb. 23, 2016

I'm 72, but I'm painting, sculpting, making little boxes that the art ponces call cabinets of curiosities, making photographs.

From The Guardian ● Aug. 25, 2010