Word.ws English Dictionary

Keystone Cop

Keystone Cop noun: a bungling, incompetent policeman.

Noun

Keystone Cop (plural Keystone Cops)

  1. (informal) A bungling, incompetent policeman.
    • Every blunder added weight to defense depictions of the CID as a bunch of Keystone Kops bunglers, a disgrace to serious criminal investigation.2003, Colin Evans, A Question of Evidence, page 162
    • “I'm gone three days and look what happens? You two get sent out to do some spying and end up with front-row seats at a Keystone Kop shoot-out.”2011, T. L. Carpenter, The Amerikan Dream, page 174

Forms of Keystone Cop

pluralKeystone Cops
alternative formKeystone Kop

Origin of Keystone Cop

From the Keystone Cops, a group of fictional, humorously incompetent policemen featured in silent slapstick comedies produced by the Keystone Film Company (itself named for the "Keystone State": Pennsylvania) between 1912 and 1917.

Questions about Keystone Cop

What does Keystone Cop mean?
Keystone Cop means a bungling, incompetent policeman.
What part of speech is Keystone Cop?
Keystone Cop is a noun.
What is the plural of Keystone Cop?
The plural of Keystone Cop is Keystone Cops.

Words near Keystone Cop in the dictionary

  1. keyspace
  2. keyspaces
  3. keyster
  4. keysters
  5. keystone
  6. Keystone Cop
  7. Keystone Cops
  8. keystone corner
  9. keystone corners
  10. keystone effect
  11. keystone effects

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Keystone Cop (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.

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