popinjay

C2+ Topic:People & Society

US /ˈpɑpɪnˌdʒeɪ/ UK /ˈpɒpɪnˌdʒeɪ/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

noun
a vain, conceited person, especially one given to showy dress or chatter

The strutting popinjay bored everyone with talk of his own brilliance.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 noun · a vain, conceited person,... fop coxcomb dandy peacock braggart show-off prig

Etymology

From Old French papegai ('parrot'), via Spanish papagayo, ultimately from Arabic babbaga ('parrot'). The vain-person sense draws on the parrot's gaudy plumage and chatter.

papegai Old French babbaga Arabic

View etymology graph ->

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People & Society Word Formation & Derivatives

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# popinjay

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** noun
**IPA (US):** /ˈpɑpɪnˌdʒeɪ/
**IPA (UK):** /ˈpɒpɪnˌdʒeɪ/

## Meanings
1. a vain, conceited person, especially one given to showy dress or chatter

## Examples
- The strutting popinjay bored everyone with talk of his own brilliance.

## Synonyms
- fop
- coxcomb
- dandy
- peacock
- braggart
- show-off
- prig

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: papegai
- Root: babbaga

## Etymology
From Old French papegai ('parrot'), via Spanish papagayo, ultimately from Arabic babbaga ('parrot'). The vain-person sense draws on the parrot's gaudy plumage and chatter.

## AI Etymology
Popinjay is from Old French papegai ('parrot'), via Spanish papagayo, ultimately from Arabic babbaga ('parrot'). The vain-person sense draws on the parrot's gaudy plumage and chatter. Important recorded forms include papegai (Old French) and babbaga (Arabic). Morphologically, the ending or combining element turns the older base into the present English part of speech. The modern sense follows that older lexical line closely. In current use it covers a vain, conceited person, especially one given to showy dress or chatter.

## Topics
- People & Society
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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popinjay

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