cockier; cockiest
1
: boldly or brashly self-confident
a cocky young actor
he is invariably a smug and cocky stuffed shirt—
James Thurber
James Thurber2
: jaunty
Examples of cocky in a Sentence
Don't get too cocky about your chances of getting the job.
a cocky young actor who thought that he was God's gift to the theater
Recent Examples on the Web
Before that storm has even passed, for example, cocky doc Tom Cole (Pennyworth‘s Jack Bannon) manages to get wrapped up in a love triangle with two female colleagues, planting kisses on them in separate wings of the hospital.
—Rebecca Luther, TVLine, 3 Apr. 2025
Read more: Friends and Admirers Pay Tribute to Hollywood ‘Icon’ Val Kilmer
In 1986, in only his fourth movie role, Kilmer played a cocky pilot who easily intimidated even Tom Cruise’s smirky-confident hotshot Maverick, but even then, his macho swagger was roguish and playful.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 2 Apr. 2025
Kilmer’s Maverick would be cocky but also raw, exposed.
—John Devore, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2025
With a crew cut and a cocky attitude, Kilmer took blond '80s villains to a whole other level with Iceman.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocky
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Rebecca Luther, TVLine, 3 Apr. 2025
Read more: Friends and Admirers Pay Tribute to Hollywood ‘Icon’ Val Kilmer
In 1986, in only his fourth movie role, Kilmer played a cocky pilot who easily intimidated even Tom Cruise’s smirky-confident hotshot Maverick, but even then, his macho swagger was roguish and playful.
—Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 2 Apr. 2025
Kilmer’s Maverick would be cocky but also raw, exposed.
—John Devore, Rolling Stone, 2 Apr. 2025
With a crew cut and a cocky attitude, Kilmer took blond '80s villains to a whole other level with Iceman.
—Brian Truitt, USA Today, 2 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for cocky
Cite this Entry
“Cocky.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cocky. Accessed 13 Apr. 2025.
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