cockier; cockiest
1
: boldly or brashly self-confident
a cocky young actor
he is invariably a smug and cocky stuffed shirt—
James Thurber
James Thurber2
: jaunty
Synonyms
Examples of cocky in a Sentence
Don't get too cocky about your chances of getting the job.
a cocky young actor who thought that he was God's gift to the theater
Recent Examples on the Web
Teague plays Jeff Shapiro, a cocky, risk-taking reporter for the Globe tabloid.
—Matt Grobar, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2024
His calls to his fellow Slough Housers go unanswered until Louisa (Harlots actress Rosalind Eleazar), always eager to take the mickey out of the cocky hacktivist, answers and explains that their boss, heavy-drinking, gas-passing Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), lied to Roddy to get him out of his hair.
—Hayden Mears, TVLine, 4 Sep. 2024
His lengthy speeches and performative body language arrive out of step with the other performances — which favor a straddling of theatrics and subtlety — and derail the film’s emotional core at key times.
Ray Fisher as Lymon is the reserve to Boy Willie’s cocky.
—Caleb Hammond, IndieWire, 1 Sep. 2024
And then there’s The Outsiders, a musical based on S.E. Hinton’s 1967 young adult novel that came to New York last March pretty cocky from a popular engagement at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse and plenty of pre-arrival press.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cocky 
Matt Grobar, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2024
His calls to his fellow Slough Housers go unanswered until Louisa (Harlots actress Rosalind Eleazar), always eager to take the mickey out of the cocky hacktivist, answers and explains that their boss, heavy-drinking, gas-passing Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), lied to Roddy to get him out of his hair.
—Hayden Mears, TVLine, 4 Sep. 2024
His lengthy speeches and performative body language arrive out of step with the other performances — which favor a straddling of theatrics and subtlety — and derail the film’s emotional core at key times.
Ray Fisher as Lymon is the reserve to Boy Willie’s cocky.
—Caleb Hammond, IndieWire, 1 Sep. 2024
And then there’s The Outsiders, a musical based on S.E. Hinton’s 1967 young adult novel that came to New York last March pretty cocky from a popular engagement at San Diego’s La Jolla Playhouse and plenty of pre-arrival press.
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 6 Aug. 2024
See all Example Sentences for cocky
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cocky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near cocky
Cite this Entry
“Cocky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cocky. Accessed 20 Sep. 2024.
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