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
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
This was for the school’s talent competition, an opportunity for cocky children to show off their talents or, in my case, lack thereof.
—Thomas Smith, Billboard, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocky
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
This was for the school’s talent competition, an opportunity for cocky children to show off their talents or, in my case, lack thereof.
—Thomas Smith, Billboard, 7 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocky
Recent Examples of Synonyms for cocky
Adjective
-
Either by choice or otherwise, Wolves lost seven players who appeared regularly in the first team last season and brought in six new faces, so numbers-wise, there is little difference.—
Steve Madeley,
New York Times,
15 Sep. 2025
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The measure further reduces offshore drilling, but the effort to compensate in a region that is highly dependent on the oil industry was a wise move.—
The Editorial Board,
Oc Register,
15 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Blyth plays Cal, a jumpy and cocksure construction manager who is very much the third wheel — or more like the monkey wrench — in the recent couple formed by Leonie and the considerably older Horn.—
Jordan Mintzer,
HollywoodReporter,
4 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
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
-
The movie’s startling originality is in its spirit, its insolent ironies.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
30 July 2025
Adjective
-
Bruno agreed, calling her sassy, sexy, yet classy.—
Monica Mercuri,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
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In the video, the actress mouthed along to a sassy audio while dressed casually in a Nike sweatshirt and a bare face.—
Rachel McRady,
PEOPLE,
16 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
While earlier incidents against Jewish sites, coming amid the backlash over the soaring death toll in Israel’s conflict in Gaza, sparked a media frenzy around this particularly act of brazen antisemitism, the pigs’ heads did not have the same effect.—
Saskya Vandoorne,
CNN Money,
12 Sep. 2025
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But in recent years, acts of brazen violence have been the grim drumbeat of a debased national politics.—
Eric Cortellessa,
Time,
11 Sep. 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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Now, Courtney Brown, an associate professor at Southern Methodist University (SMU), has taken a bold and creative step forward.—
Rupendra Brahambhatt,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Sep. 2025
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Backstage, hair and makeup looks were designed to echo the avant-garde edge of his collection—a reminder that timeless beauty can be both bold and modern.—
Essence,
Essence,
14 Sep. 2025
Adjective
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In the two-thousands, the reggaetón explosion made stars of brash Puerto Rican performers like Daddy Yankee and Don Omar, who also happened to be rivals.—
Kelefa Sanneh,
New Yorker,
15 Sep. 2025
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There’s a version of this guy who could easily support another one of Vaughn’s brash bro comedies.—
Peter Debruge,
Variety,
13 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Cocky.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cocky. Accessed 21 Sep. 2025.
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