Dictionary

coxcomb en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (US) audio
• /ˈkɒks.koʊm/

Etymology

From Middle English cokke’s comb.

Meanings

1. (historical) The cap of a court jester, adorned with a red stripe.
2. The fleshy red pate of a rooster.
3. (broadly) A foolish or conceited person; a dandy.
   • [F]or tho' I am afraid the Doctor was a little of a Coxcomb, he might be nevertheleſs very much of a Surgeon. 1749, Henry Fielding, chapter XIII, in The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, volume III, London: A[ndrew] Millar, […], →OCLC, book VII, page 112:
   • And she nearly started a fight between two young fops in plumed hats and flouncy collars: "Clay-brained coxcomb!" "Mewling milk-livered maggot!" 2010, Pseudonymous Bosch, This Isn't What It Looks Like:
   • Thanks to my stars, I once can see / A window here from scribbling free! / Here no conceited coxcombs pass, / To scratch their paltry drabs on glass; / Nor party-fool is calling names, / Or dealing crowns to George and James. a. 1746, Jonathan Swift, “VII. Another, Written upon a Window where there was No Writing before.”, in Thomas Sheridan, compiler, The Works of the Rev. Jonathan Swift, D.D., Dean of St. Patrick’s, Dublin. […] In Nineteen Volumes, new corrected and revised edition, volume VII, London: Printed [by Nichols and Son] for J[oseph] Johnson [et al.], published 1801, →OCLC, page 361:

Forms

Deriveds

coxcombical · coxcombic · coxcomby · coxcombery · coxcombry · coxcombly · coxcombically · coxcomb chart · coxcombed

Synonyms

popinjay · fool

Translations (25)

fi heltta (pate of a rooster) · bg шапка на шут (court jester's cap) · ru самодово́льный хлы́щ (foolish or conceited person) · fi tomppeli (foolish or conceited person) · fr crête (pate of a rooster) · pl czapka nadwornego błazna (court jester's cap) · fi narrinhattu (court jester's cap) · pl grzebień koguta (pate of a rooster) · fi pelle (foolish or conceited person) · ru пету́ший гребешо́к (pate of a rooster) · ru фат (foolish or conceited person) · bg франт (foolish or conceited person) · ru пижо́н (foolish or conceited person) · fi uuno (foolish or conceited person) · fi narri (foolish or conceited person) · pl fircyk (foolish or conceited person) · de Hahnenkamm (pate of a rooster) · sv tuppkam (pate of a rooster) · es cresta (pate of a rooster) · da hanekam (pate of a rooster) · fr coq (foolish or conceited person) · es lechuguino (foolish or conceited person) · ru шутовско́й колпа́к (court jester's cap) · tft sulesule (pate of a rooster) · ru гре́бень (pate of a rooster)