cockney

noun

cock·​ney ˈkäk-nē 

plural cockneys

1

obsolete

a

: a spoiled child

b

: a squeamish woman

2

often capitalized

a

: a native of London and especially of the East End of London

b

: the dialect of London or of the East End of London

cockney adjective

cockneyfy

ˈkäk-ni-ˌfī 

transitive verb

cockneyish

ˈkäk-nē-ish 

adjective

cockneyism

ˈkäk-nē-ˌi-zəm 

noun

Example Sentences

Recent Examples on the Web

Is her accent cockney? —Matthew J. Palm, Orlando Sentinel, 12 Dec. 2022

Forming a team where a college professor and chess champion can fight for the same goals as a cockney-speaking construction worker (who takes out enemies with a giant lug wrench) feels refreshingly cosmopolitan, especially as one character gets immediately called in to help when the other fails. —Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 28 Oct. 2020

But the film itself proved to be one of Allen’s darkest efforts, the tale of two cockney brothers, down on their luck, who agree to commit a murder with tragic results. —Gregg Kilday, The Hollywood Reporter, 31 Aug. 2022

The poem isn’t diminished by learning that Vivien wrote wonderful next to the nervy wife’s dialogue in the manuscript, or that the cockney monologue at the end of the same section was modeled after the speech of the Eliots’ housemaid, Ellen Kellond. —Christopher Tayler, Harper’s Magazine , 17 Aug. 2022

Distributing tarts the traditional way, in a wicker basket carried by a theater student doing a heavy cockney accent, was deemed unsanitary by festival leadership. —Caroleine James, The Salt Lake Tribune, 11 July 2021

Oscar-winning adaptation of the Broadway hit about an English professor who teaches a cockney merchant to be a lady. —Ed Stockly, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2021

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Word History

Etymology

Middle English cokeney, literally, cocks' egg, from coken (genitive plural of cok cock) + ey egg, from Old English ǣg

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Kids Definition

cockney

noun

cock·​ney ˈkäk-nē 

plural cockneys

often capitalized

1

: a native of London and especially of the East End of London

2

: the dialect spoken by the cockneys

cockney adjective