˜yÐÄvlog

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View synonyms for

popinjay

[ pop-in-jey ]

noun

  1. a person given to vain, pretentious displays and empty chatter; coxcomb; fop.
  2. British Dialect. a woodpecker, especially the green woodpecker.
  3. Archaic. the figure of a parrot usually fixed on a pole and used as a target in archery and gun shooting.
  4. Archaic. a parrot.


popinjay

/ ˈ±èÉ’±èɪ²ÔËŒ»åÏô±ðɪ /

noun

  1. a conceited, foppish, or excessively talkative person
  2. an archaic word for parrot
  3. the figure of a parrot used as a target
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged†2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins

Origin of popinjay1

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English papejay, popingay, papinjai(e), from Middle French papegai, papingay “parrot,†ultimately from Arabic ²ú²¹²ú(²ú²¹)²µ³óÄå&#³æ27;, probably imitative of the bird's cry
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˜yÐÄvlog History and Origins

Origin of popinjay1

C13 papeniai, from Old French papegay a parrot, from Spanish papagayo, from Arabic ²ú²¹²ú²¹²µ³óÄå
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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

As are the old-fashioned words — like “martinet,†“popinjay†and “annealed†— that Galloway sprinkles through the text, the way Leigh strewed the beloved posies from her various country estates.

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While Gaudi doesn’t hide his contempt for the popinjays and idiots who wasted the lives of good men, he is unstinting in his admiration for heroism and self-sacrifice.

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Protest the power of privileged popinjays who for years turned blind eyes to systematic cheating by the likes of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but won’t let teenagers take medicines prescribed for asthma and ADHD.

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Here is the ultimate insult to this obese, superannuated popinjay: the book renders him invisible, as if flushing him away into oblivion.

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It was this transition that helped turn “Trump into Trump†— from a comparatively minor fish in the Manhattan real estate pond into the world’s greatest popinjay.

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