popinjay

American  

[pop-in-jey] / ˈpɒp ɪnˌdʒeɪ /

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.

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popinjay British  

/ ˈpɒpɪnˌdʒeɪ /

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

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Etymology

Origin of popinjay

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English papejay, popingay, papinjai(e), from Middle French papegai, papingay “parrot,” ultimately from Arabic bab(ba)ghā', probably imitative of the bird's cry

Explanation

A popinjay is a self-centered chatterbox. The word popinjay isn't used much these days, which is too bad — it could describe plenty of people who talk too much. A popinjay is a person who's both talkative and cocky, who struts around chattering like a parrot. Fittingly, it's also an old-fashioned word meaning parrot, and the name of a sport also known as pole archery, in which players shoot at wooden bird shapes with either rifles or crossbows. The origin of popinjay is unknown, but one guess is that its roots are imitative, meant to sound like the cry of a bird.

Example Sentences

The 1980s brought with them a new social type, a sub-Nietzschean popinjay we’ll call Finance Guy.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 8, 2020

He flamboyantly inhabited his martial persona, a popinjay with long golden curls and a specially commissioned uniform, “a black velvet suit and enough gold braid to cover it.”

From New York Times • Aug. 10, 2018

At that embarrassing moment none could foresee that in the next 69 years the popinjay would become: � Founder of the U.S.

From Time Magazine Archive

To the hero-happy public he was a guerrilla genius, the Galahad of World War I. To his military superiors he was a popinjay.

From Time Magazine Archive

“Shoot the popinjay,” said Robb, giving than to the Wart He looked and saw * popinjay five-score paces away.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White