moxie

noun mox·ie \ ˈmäk-sē \

|Updated on: 21 Jun 2018

Examples: moxie in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of moxie

1 : energy, pep

woke up full of moxie

2 : courage, determination

it takes … moxie to pull up roots and go to a land where the culture and probably the language are totally foreign
—M. J. McClary

3 : know-how

was impressed with his musical moxie and hired him as a solo

See moxie defined for English-language learners

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Examples of moxie in a Sentence

He showed a lot of moxie in questioning the policy.
it was old-fashioned military moxie that got medical supplies to the disaster site in record time

Recent Examples of moxie from the Web

Coming off his best start of the season (six innings, four hits, one run, six whiffs at Texas), Triggs is ensconced in the rotation of a team that is showing moxie and promise.

— lawr michaels, USA TODAY, "Fantasy baseball sizzlers, fizzlers: Franchy Cordero powers forward," 1 May 2018
Kansas bounced back nicely from a late collapse at Oklahoma, showing a bit more moxie than the Jayhawks have in recent weeks.

— dave skretta, Houston Chronicle, "No. 5 Kansas builds big early lead, beats Texas A&M," 27 Jan. 2018
Marika Mashburn brings endearing moxie as the zookeeper.

— kerry reid, chicagotribune.com, "'Birds of a Feather' is based on true story of same-sex penguin couple Roy and Silo," 11 May 2018
Rosen can outplay the other QBs in this class and deliver with his arm and moxie, starting over Sam Bradford from Day 1.

— azcentral, "NFL draft grades: Cardinals ace NFL draft with Josh Rosen, Christian Kirk, other picks?," 30 Apr. 2018
The Irish, whose other two losses this season were to Louisville, carry with them a let’s-run moxie that others lose when lining up with UConn in a bracket.

— mike anthony, courant.com, "Rivalry Renewed: UConn And Notre Dame Set For Final Four Showdown Friday In Columbus," 30 Mar. 2018
For 14 minutes Thursday afternoon, before the gaze of some-40 reporters, Barkley mixed moxie with modesty.

— zak keefer, Indianapolis Star, "Insider: Can the Colts afford to pass on Saquon Barkley?," 1 Mar. 2018
However, few have the stage presence, songwriting skills and overall show business moxie as this Michigan native who Warner Brothers is banking on heavily in the next twelve months.

— chuck dauphin, Billboard, "15 Country Artists to Watch in 2018," 5 Jan. 2018
The big-boned Ohio city built by Eastern European immigrants and Midwestern moxie ripples with new cultural energy,'' the Cleveland entry begins.

— mary kay cabot, cleveland.com, "Jim Mora apparently thinks Cleveland is too blue-collar for Josh Rosen: Mary Kay Cabot," 27 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'moxie.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Did You Know?

Hot roasted peanuts! Fresh popcorn! Ice-cold Moxie! You might have heard such a snack vendor's cry at a baseball game-if you attended it in 1924. That was the heyday of the soft drink named Moxie, which some claim outsold Coca-Cola at the height of its popularity. The beverage was a favorite of American writer E. B. White, who wrote, "Moxie contains gentian root, which is the path to the good life. This was known in the second century before Christ and is a boon to me today." By 1930, moxie had become a slang term for nerve and verve, perhaps because some people thought the drink was a tonic that could cure virtually any ill and bring vim back to even the most lethargic individual.