cozening

cozening is the present participle and gerund of cozen.

Meaning of cozen

cozen (third-person singular simple present cozens, present participle cozening, simple past and past participle cozened)

(intransitive) To become cozy; (by extension) to become acquainted, comfortable, or familiar with.
- "As I see it, Master Fraser, a 'bairn' ought to be verra concerned when a mon thrice her age cozens up to her."2008, Hannah Howell, Silver Flame, page 354

cozen (third-person singular simple present cozens, present participle cozening, simple past and past participle cozened)

(archaic) To cheat; to defraud; to deceive, usually by small arts, or in a pitiful way.
- […] good Vulcan, for Cupids sake that hath cousned us all: befriend us as thou maiest […]c. 1590 (date written), G[eorge] P[eele], The Old Wiues Tale. […], London: […] Iohn Danter, for Raph Hancocke, and Iohn Hardie, […], published 1595, →OCLC
Synonyms:

beguile, abuse, beglammer, counterfeit, deceive, catch, trap into, dissemble, dissimulate, feign

cozening (plural cozenings)

fraud; deception; the acts of one who cozens
- Her lily hand her rosy cheek lies under, / Cozening the pillow of a lawful kiss;1594, William Shakespeare, The Rape of Lucrece, l. 387

plural	cozenings

What does cozening mean?: Cozening means fraud; deception; the acts of one who cozens.
What is cozening the present participle and gerund of?: Cozening is the present participle and gerund of cozen.
What part of speech is cozening?: Cozening is a noun.
What is the plural of cozening?: The plural of cozening is cozenings.

Adapted from Wiktionary: cozening (page history and authors); cozen (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “cozening.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cozening. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.