cockney

noun

cock·​ney ˈkäk-nē How to pronounce cockney (audio)
plural cockneys
1
obsolete
a
: a spoiled child
b
: a squeamish woman
2
often capitalized
a
: a native of London and especially of the East End of London
b
: the dialect of London or of the East End of London
cockney adjective
cockneyfy transitive verb
cockneyish adjective
cockneyism noun

Examples of cockney in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Lily O’Neil brings traditional British comedy tropes — the cockney accent, the bustling busybody gestures — to the maid Emmy, to good advantage, though the production has problems bringing that type of comic energy to any other scenes. Christopher Arnott, Hartford Courant, 27 Mar. 2024 Cocky, cockney, and constantly beset by everyday duties, this (along with Alfie the following year) is the birth of Michael Caine the everyman superstar. Dennis Perkins, EW.com, 5 Apr. 2024 The series, which doesn’t make reference to the film or feature any of the characters from it, stars Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Vinnie Jones, Giancarlo Esposito, Joely Richardson and the cockney’s cockney Ray Winstone. Abid Rahman, The Hollywood Reporter, 1 Mar. 2024 The hotel’s assistant manager, a cockney turned Bolshevik named Jack Margolis, explained to one journalist that the dining room was closed to keep the guests safe in the event of a direct hit on the famous glass ceiling. Alan Philps, Town & Country, 5 July 2023 See all Example Sentences for cockney 

Word History

Etymology

Middle English cokeney, literally, cocks' egg, from coken (genitive plural of cok cock) + ey egg, from Old English ǣg

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Time Traveler
The first known use of cockney was in the 15th century

Dictionary Entries Near cockney

Cite this Entry

“Cockney.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cockney. Accessed 19 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

cockney

noun
cock·​ney ˈkäk-nē How to pronounce cockney (audio)
plural cockneys
often capitalized
1
: a native of London and especially of the East End of London
2
: the dialect spoken by the cockneys
cockney adjective
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