as in jail
a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody
joked about the time he passed out on the street and woke up in the pokey
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Recent Examples of pokey
There are reasons people are afraid of the dentist; all of those pokey instruments going into soft, sensitive places.
—
Erin Qualey, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2025
Thirty-three years since its founder began cutting up fabrics in a pokey South London flat, the house of McQueen’s headquarters now inhabit a six-story, 30,000-square-foot building in London’s Clerkenwell.
—Hayley Maitland, Vogue, 16 Dec. 2024
This pokey lime green plant is a bit of a chameleon, changing colour when stressed by lack of water or bad weather.
—Katy Kelleher, refinery29.com, 29 July 2024
Image: Cornell The researchers equipped their prototype robot with two different kinds of texture units: Goosebumps, which form rounded domes when inflated, and spikes, which include rigid little pokey bits.
—IEEE Spectrum, 16 May 2018
See All Example Sentences for pokey
Erin Qualey, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2025
Thirty-three years since its founder began cutting up fabrics in a pokey South London flat, the house of McQueen’s headquarters now inhabit a six-story, 30,000-square-foot building in London’s Clerkenwell.
—Hayley Maitland, Vogue, 16 Dec. 2024
This pokey lime green plant is a bit of a chameleon, changing colour when stressed by lack of water or bad weather.
—Katy Kelleher, refinery29.com, 29 July 2024
Image: Cornell The researchers equipped their prototype robot with two different kinds of texture units: Goosebumps, which form rounded domes when inflated, and spikes, which include rigid little pokey bits.
—IEEE Spectrum, 16 May 2018
See All Example Sentences for pokey
Recent Examples of Synonyms for pokey
Noun
-
Since then, at least 34 municipalities in Illinois have passed anti-camping ordinances with enforceable fines and jail time.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Ware is being held at the Clay County Detention Center while awaiting trial, and his escape resulted in an additional charge of felony prison breach and escape, jail records show.—
Mark Price,
Charlotte Observer,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
Householder is serving a 20-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2023 of orchestrating the scheme, which FirstEnergy has admitted to underwriting.—
Julie Carr Smyth,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Apr. 2026
-
Ware is being held at the Clay County Detention Center while awaiting trial, and his escape resulted in an additional charge of felony prison breach and escape, jail records show.—
Mark Price,
Charlotte Observer,
19 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The government opened the federal penitentiary on Alcatraz in 1934, hoping to use the remote island to house particularly difficult prisoners, according to the National Park Service.—
Justine McDaniel,
Los Angeles Times,
3 Apr. 2026
-
But Wood’s penitentiary is considerably sturdier.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Pokey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pokey. Accessed 20 Apr. 2026.
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