pokey

noun

po·​key ˈpō-kē 

plural pokeys

slang

: jail

Synonyms

• bastille
• big house [slang]
• bridewell
• brig
• calaboose
• can
• clink [slang]
• cooler
• coop
• guardroom
• hock
• hold
• hoosegow
• jail
• jailhouse
• joint [slang]
• jug
• lockup
• nick [British slang]
• pen
• penitentiary
• prison
• quod [British slang]
• slam
• slammer
• stir [slang]
• stockade
• tolbooth [Scottish]

Examples of pokey in a Sentence

joked about the time he passed out on the street and woke up in the pokey

Recent Examples on the Web

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

Calvin Klein’s racerback bralette is made from ultra-soft and stretch-infused cotton for optimal breathability, and it’s designed without pokey underwires, too. —Emily Weaver, Peoplemag, 27 July 2024

One reason entanglement is exciting is the potential to drive quantum computers that make today's best look pokey by comparison, like so: Quantum computers exploit the inherent uncertainties of quantum physics to perform calculations much faster than computers currently in use. —Andrew Moseman, Discover Magazine, 19 Nov. 2019

Word History

Etymology

origin unknown

First Known Use

circa 1919, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing pokey

• the pokey

Rhymes for pokey

• cloche
• gnocchi
• loci
• smokey
• smoky
• karaoke