sobriquet

[ soh-bruh-key, -ket, soh-bruh-key, -ket; French saw-bree-ke ]

noun

, plural so·bri·quets [soh, -br, uh, -keyz, -kets, soh-br, uh, -, keyz, -, kets, saw-b, r, ee-, ke].

1. a nickname.

sobriquet

/ ˈsəʊbrɪˌkeɪ /

noun

1. a humorous epithet, assumed name, or nickname

Other Words From

• sobri·queti·cal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of sobriquet¹

First recorded in 1640–50; origin uncertain; from French Middle French soubriquet “nickname, surname,” formerly also “a jest,” from Old French soubriquet, soubzbriquet “a gentle tap under the chin, a chuck under the chin”

Word History and Origins

Origin of sobriquet¹

C17: from French soubriquet, of uncertain origin

Example Sentences

That, however, could easily be a sobriquet for Deception Pass Bridge.

From Washington Post

As the sigil of House Tyrell is a rose, the sobriquet is a play on her cunning and prickliness.

From The Daily Beast

It would earn for its creator the sobriquet of “Tricky Dick.”

From The Daily Beast

When Obama dispenses with that dread sobriquet “professorial,” he does it by being, well, more professorial.

From The Daily Beast

The coolest dude I ever knew was a hustler in New York City that was known by the unusual sobriquet “Seldom Seen.”

From The Daily Beast

On the advice of his customer, the poet Parny, he had taken the name of Marius, a sobriquet which stuck to the establishment.

From Project Gutenberg

Upon her return, she married a merchant ropemaker, whence her sobriquet—La Belle Cordire.

From Project Gutenberg

And his popular sobriquet was Simon the Saver (Anglicè, miser).

From Project Gutenberg

For a long time this gave me the sobriquet of "Old Chicken."

From Project Gutenberg

Of course, Mr. Bulwer-Lytton lived too early to know him, or he wouldn't have conferred that sobriquet upon Warwick.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• appellation
• moniker