cocksure
pronunciation
How to pronounce cocksure in British English:
UK [ˌkɒkˈʃʊə(r)]
How to pronounce cocksure in American English:
US [ˌkɑkˈʃʊr]
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- Adjective:
- marked by excessive confidence
Word Origin
- cocksure (adj.)
- 1520s, "certain," from cock (n.1) + sure (adj.). Probably "as assured as a cock." "The word was originally perfectly dignified, and habitually used in the most solemn connexions" [OED].
Example
- 1. We have been cocksure of many things that were not so .
- 2. The cockerel is , naturally , cocksure .
- 3. The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt .
- 4. It sounds as if you had him thrust upon you by someone senior , who saw promise , rather than a cocksure idiot jabbering about strategic initiatives .
- 5. Granted , this complaint often comes from sour-grapes rivals . But many others are put off by google 's cocksure assertion of its own holiness , as if it merited unquestioning trust .