cocksure

[ kok-shoor, -shur ]

adjective

1. perfectly sure or certain; completely confident in one's own mind:

   She was cocksure that she was able to do the job better than anyone else.

   Synonyms: conceited, arrogant, cocky

2. too certain; overconfident:

   He was so cocksure he would win the election that he didn't even bother to campaign.

3. Obsolete. perfectly secure or safe.

cocksure

/ ˌkɒkˈʃʊə; -ˈʃɔː /

adjective

1. overconfident; arrogant

Derived Forms

• ˌcockˈsurely, adverb
• ˌcockˈsureness, noun

Other Words From

• cocksurely adverb
• cocksureness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cocksure¹

First recorded in 1510–20; cock ¹ + sure

Word History and Origins

Origin of cocksure¹

C16: of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

The potential for damagingly inaccurate outputs is heightened by AI bots’ natural language capabilities, with which they offer even absurdly inaccurate answers with convincingly cocksure elan.

From Los Angeles Times

“What if things get wonky?” the cocksure 30-year-old asked.

From Los Angeles Times

About three months after he offered that cocksure assurance, the Justice Department filed a second lawsuit alleging that Live Nation had been consistently violating the consent decree.

From Los Angeles Times

Back at the attorney’s office, I watched Gray’s family and lawyers all moved to tears by Mosby’s words—even famously cocksure defense attorney Billy Murphy!—and her audacious attempt to hold Baltimore police accountable for Gray’s death.

From Slate

They misquoted him to his face, misrepresented his work, and spouted cocksure inanities showing with every word that, scientifically speaking, they have no idea what they’re talking about.

From Los Angeles Times