as in wise
displaying or marked by rude boldness
a cocky young actor who thought that he was God's gift to the theater
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Recent Examples of cocky
Thanks to its partnership with Microsoft, resulting in near total control of PC chips throughout the 1990s, Intel got cocky.
—
Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
Still, closers have to be somewhat cocky to succeed in high-pressure situations, and Duran has been excellent on the whole since arriving in Philadelphia.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
In Bachelorette season 11, Nick crashed the party and once again rubbed the other men (and many viewers) the wrong way in pursuit of Bristowe, whose ultimate pick, Shawn Booth, called him cocky and manipulative to his face.
—Laura Bradley, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2025
Hero Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) lonely fight for survival gave way to a military mission to vanquish aliens ravaging a human colony; Cameron filled the frame with cocky Marines, boxy space tanks, and an adorable orphan who finds in Ripley a surrogate mother.
—Judy Berman, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocky
Tiana Lowe Doescher, The Washington Examiner, 5 Sep. 2025
Still, closers have to be somewhat cocky to succeed in high-pressure situations, and Duran has been excellent on the whole since arriving in Philadelphia.
—Jackson Roberts, MSNBC Newsweek, 27 Aug. 2025
In Bachelorette season 11, Nick crashed the party and once again rubbed the other men (and many viewers) the wrong way in pursuit of Bristowe, whose ultimate pick, Shawn Booth, called him cocky and manipulative to his face.
—Laura Bradley, Vulture, 13 Aug. 2025
Hero Ellen Ripley’s (Sigourney Weaver) lonely fight for survival gave way to a military mission to vanquish aliens ravaging a human colony; Cameron filled the frame with cocky Marines, boxy space tanks, and an adorable orphan who finds in Ripley a surrogate mother.
—Judy Berman, Time, 5 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cocky
Adjective
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In other hands, this would cue a standard disease-of-the-week weepie, but Coixet keeps the tone lightly wistful and wise, and trains her attention ever more minutely on Rohrwacher, who along with her character, seems to blossom gradually under this steady gaze.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
13 Oct. 2025
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Point guard James Harden had a quiet night scoring-wise with five points, but handed out 11 assists.—
Janis Carr,
Oc Register,
13 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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That included a skinny, brash, cocksure right-hander named Walker Buehler, who went from a first-round pick to assuming the mantle as the next one poised to break through.—
Fabian Ardaya,
New York Times,
22 Sep. 2025
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Set on a white-run construction site in West Africa, the story follows an edgy foreman anxiously awaiting his bride, whose presence meets resistance from a cocksure engineer clinging to the hyper-masculine status quo.—
Naman Ramachandran,
Variety,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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Beautiful, not perfect; Alex can be rude, insolent, and subject to wild emotional swings and failures of decorum and logic.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
14 Aug. 2025
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The movie’s startling originality is in its spirit, its insolent ironies.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 July 2025
Adjective
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In this enchanting romantic comedy about three waitresses at a pizza shop in Mystic looking for love, Roberts plays the sassy, fun-loving one who falls for a wealthy blue blood, played by Adam Storke.—
Bilge Ebiri,
Vulture,
10 Oct. 2025
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Lean all the way into the Halloween vibes with this spooky vampire costume that's fit for even the sassiest cat.—
Kyley Warren,
USA Today,
4 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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European authorities have accused Russia of brazen violations of the region’s airspace, including with recent incursions by drones over Poland and fighter jets over Estonia.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
2 Oct. 2025
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The Department of Agriculture and the Department of Housing and Urban Development have posted on their websites that this is Democrats’ fault, a brazen push into politics that breaks with past neutrality.—
Philip Elliott,
Time,
1 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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Gemma reluctantly agrees to rebuild her impudent robot in a new body, and the sequel ends with an explosive showdown between Amelia and M3GAN, who nearly dies in a noble attempt to save Gemma and her niece, Cady (Violet McGraw).—
Patrick Ryan,
USA Today,
29 June 2025
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Fortunately, Snow White’s newfound enlightenment does not deny her the possibility of romance, although princes are now strictly off-limits; her love interest here is a fetchingly impudent bandit, Jonathan (Andrew Burnap), who is leading a scrappy rebellion against the Evil Queen.—
Justin Chang,
The New Yorker,
22 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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That connection—spiritual, communal, and generational—anchors Portrait, Joy’s third studio album and her boldest statement yet.—
Shelby Stewart,
Essence,
12 Oct. 2025
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Alex Iniguez Our NHL staff shared one bold prediction for each team.—
Sam Settleman,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
Adjective
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By that point, security was gone and some of the fans started spilling onto the field to soak in the biggest road win in Indiana history and get as close as possible to the brash 64-year-old architect of this most improbable turnaround.—
Ralph D. Russo,
New York Times,
12 Oct. 2025
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This chandelier has an industrial look with a timeless brash finish (though other finishes are available) that would complement a variety of decor styles.—
Melanie Fincher,
Southern Living,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cocky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cocky. Accessed 16 Oct. 2025.
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