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
But on the occasions when the ball did find him around the box, the cocky assurance that saw him nutmeg Branthwaite en route to scoring a 29-minute hat-trick in last season’s corresponding fixture was nowhere to be seen.
—
Liam Twomey, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025
The Rock, cocky, handsome, and eager to flaunt his wealth and status, facing Stone Cold, the vicious everyman who can’t stand figures of authority.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025
Coop is a true antihero, a cocky guy who’s gotten knocked down from his perch, first by losing his psychologist wife (Amanda Peet) to his best friend (Mark Tallman), and then losing his lucrative hedge fund job.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2025
Inanely virtuous sisters are engaged to a pair of unrelated, inanely cocky bros.
—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocky
Liam Twomey, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2025
The Rock, cocky, handsome, and eager to flaunt his wealth and status, facing Stone Cold, the vicious everyman who can’t stand figures of authority.
—Daniel Dockery, Vulture, 21 Apr. 2025
Coop is a true antihero, a cocky guy who’s gotten knocked down from his perch, first by losing his psychologist wife (Amanda Peet) to his best friend (Mark Tallman), and then losing his lucrative hedge fund job.
—Randy Myers, Mercury News, 17 Apr. 2025
Inanely virtuous sisters are engaged to a pair of unrelated, inanely cocky bros.
—Mark Swed, Los Angeles Times, 12 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cocky
Adjective
-
Over the last two seasons, Alexander has missed 20 games due to injury, and adding him into a cornerback room that is already reeling from health issues would not be the wisest decision.—
Nick Harris,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 June 2025
-
Which is wiser: Spending money on more firefighting resources after wildfires break out and absorbing the extraordinary cost of damages, or investing in technologies and training to prevent wildfires from happening in the first place?—
Abhishek Singh,
Forbes.com,
30 May 2025
Adjective
-
No brand should be so cocksure as to presume its products are irreplaceable.—
Cate Rubenstein,
Rolling Stone,
11 Jan. 2023
-
Nayeri’s demeanor — usually cocksure — became unhinged.—
Tim Dickinson,
Rolling Stone,
17 Dec. 2022
Adjective
-
One’s insolent, calling him lame and old, and the other affectedly infantile, but both are exhausting in their own way.—
Keith Phipps,
Vulture,
16 Apr. 2025
-
The government, in an insolent filing on Sunday evening, rewrote that instruction.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
14 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The Reddit post may have gone viral because of the man's sassy response, but its lesson is rooted in a very real concern as figures from the Federal Communications Commission report that one in 10 smartphone owners in the U.S. have been victims of phone theft.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 May 2025
-
History has largely ignored the sassy, grumpy royal advisor who paved the way for characters like Sebastian and Zazu, but hey, Friend Owl would never hold that against us.—
EW Staff,
EW.com,
27 May 2025
Adjective
-
Joya remembers her late husband’s brazen attitude in making that partnership happen: Herb had walked into the school district’s headquarters and asked to speak to the top person in charge.—
Michael Butler,
Miami Herald,
7 June 2025
-
The vicious crime wasn’t a brazen robbery or politically motivated attack.—
Andrew Paul,
Popular Science,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
One chord appears to speak to the other, sounding almost impudent in their simplicity, equal parts ecstatic and heartbreakingly melancholic.—
Sam Davies,
Rolling Stone,
10 Mar. 2025
-
In short, Moscow sees Montenegro as both strategically valuable and an impudent upstart that has thumbed its nose at the Russian bear while genuflecting before NATO and Washington.—
Edward P. Joseph,
Foreign Affairs,
22 Dec. 2016
Adjective
-
Dachshunds are notoriously determined and vocal, often pushing boundaries and asserting their will in surprisingly bold ways for their size.—
Melissa Fleur Afshar,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 June 2025
-
The pitch promises a bold new voice in European adult animation.—
Jamie Lang,
Variety,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
The result is a palpable mixture of Hollywood and British sensibilities, alternately brash and cozy-quirky, with the joins sometimes awkwardly felt.—
Guy Lodge,
Variety,
6 June 2025
-
His message—brash, conspiratorial, and anti-institutional—continues to resonate with a large segment of the population.—
Veronica Anghel,
Foreign Affairs,
21 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cocky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cocky. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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