popinjay

Definitions  ·  Examples  ·  Pronunciations  ·  Etymologies  ·  Related  ·  Statistics  ·  Comments (3)  · 
“
As is the way with his kind, he began to ply the unfortunate caller with questions Mr. Brown," he began, "what is a popinjay Why--er--a popinjay is a--eh--vain bird Are you a bird, Mr. Brown No, of course not Well, that's funny.

View all »
Definitions (9)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. noun A vain, talkative person.

Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (5)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (1)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (2)

Toggle elsewhere links Elsewhere on the web

View all »
Examples (50)

  • Amin had drunk heavily throughout lunch to help him put up with this popinjay, and then had retired here to the Old Command Post and its Botanical Room to go on drinking and to take out his bad temper on his defeated enemies. —  Kahawa
  • 'It can't be easy for Dent to have to herd us around and then rush off to his own classes Don't expect me to feel sorry for that little popinjay,' Rory growled and then we all jumped in our seats as our instructor shouted, 'Stand up! —  Hobb, Robin - The Soldier Son 01 - Shaman's Crossing (v2.0)
  • “Am I allowed to do a spot of hero-worship You reduce me to the status of an insufferable popinjay,” replied Alleyn. —  Death In Ecstasy - Ngaio Marsh - Alleyn 04: 1936
  • No. 444, the Seal of THOMAS MONYPENY, A.D. 1415, has the Shield couchée charged with Az., a chevron between three crosses crosslets fitchée issuing from as many crescents arg._: the Crest, on a helm, is a bird, probably a popinjay or parrot. —  The Handbook to English Heraldry
  • One match there was in especial, on Mothering Sunday, when the champions of each guild shot against one another at such a range that it needed a keen eye to see the popinjay--a stuffed bird at which they shot Stephen was one of these, his forest lore having always given him an advantage over many of the others. —  The Armourer's Prentices
More examples »
 

Tags

Sign up or sign in to add tags.

Stats

This word has been looked up 320 times.

1 person has marked this word as a favorite.

stop updating
On Twitter

Photos from

flickr images

Etymologies (2)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. Middle English, parrot, from Old French papegai, from Spanish papagayo or Old Provençal papagai, both from Arabic babġā', babaġā', from Persian babbaghā.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (1)

  1. Formerly also popingay; from Middle English popinjay, popynjay, popingay, popyngay, papinjay, papingay, papyngay, popejay, papejay = Dutch papegaai = Middle Low German papagoie, papegoie, Low German papegoje = Middle High German papegān, German papagei = Swedish papegoja = Danish papegöje, from Old French papejaye, papegai (French papegai, papegaut), also papegau, papegant = Provencal papagai = Spanish papagayo = Portuguese papagaio = Italian papagallo, from Middle Latin papagallus, from New Greek παπαγάλλος, a parrot; altered by popular etymology (simulating Old French gai, geai, English jay, a bright garrulous bird, comparable in these respects to the parrot, or L. gallus, a cock; the first part being perhaps taken as also imitative: cf. Bavarian pappel, a parrot, from pappeln, chatter) from Middle Greek παπαγάς, a parrot; perhaps of Eastern origin; but the Arabic babaghā, Persian bapga, a parrot, are apparently borrowed from the Spanish word. Cf. Malay bayan, a parrot.
 

Pronunciations
Record your own »
/ˈpɑpɪndʒei/
by American Heritage

Charts
frequency chart

Bubble size: how much this word was used in a year

Bubble height: used more or less than expected, vs. all uses evenly distributed

We are still working on calculating this word's frequency.

Recently looked up

wrt · sexting · oxymoron · interlocutors · discombobulated

Recent Favorites

pygopagus · sanglant · Astacus · sweetbread · qualms

Recent Pronunciations

Kansas City · spell it rite · put it in your pocket · A fly and a flea flew into a flue · She sells seashells by the seashore