pokey
pokey Lexical Profile
pokey Game Scores & Validity
• noun
North American A jail or prison (used humorously or informally, usually preceded by 'the').
"In the old Western movie, the rowdy cowboys ended up spending the night in the pokey after a saloon brawl."
• adjective
North American Annoyingly slow or dawdling; lacking speed or energy.
"The old commuter train was so pokey that it took nearly two hours to reach the city center."
Uncomfortably small, cramped, and shabby (used especially of a room or building).
"They spent their first year of college sharing a pokey basement apartment with barely enough room for two desks."
Word Nuance & Usage
Also spelled 'poky', especially when used as an adjective meaning slow or cramped; as a slang noun meaning jail, it is almost always preceded by 'the' ('the pokey').
• Rhymes for pokey
Word Origin & Etymology
The adjective senses derive from 'poke' (to move slowly or dawdle, or a small bag/confined space) plus '-y'. The slang noun sense for 'jail' likely evolved in early 20th-century American English as a shortening of 'pogey' (an almshouse or workhouse) influenced by 'poke'.