Word.ws English Dictionary

poky

poky is the alternative spelling of pokie.

Adjective (1)

poky (comparative pokier, superlative pokiest)

  1. Slow.
  2. Stupid; mentally dull.

Meaning of pokie

Noun (1)

pokie (plural pokies)

  1. (Australia, New Zealand, in plural, slang) Synonym of poker machine, an electronic game of chance played for money, especially slot machines.
    • For several decades until the early 1990s, Echuca–Moama existed in the consciousness of Melburnians as the destination for pokie bus-trips. All of this changed when the Kennett Government legalised pokies in Victoria in 1993.2004, Bernard Salt, The Big Shift, page 77
    Synonyms:
    poker machine

Noun (2)

pokie (plural pokies)

  1. (informal) Any of several species of arboreal tarantula in the genus Poecilotheria.

Adjective (2)

poky (comparative pokier, superlative pokiest)

  1. Small and cramped, and often shabby.
    • The back door leads to a poky kitchen, tiled brightly in the taste of a previous tenant.2012, Zadie Smith, NW, London: Penguin Books, published 2013, →ISBN, page 5

Noun

poky (plural pokies)

  1. (slang) Jail.

Forms of poky

Noun
pluralpokies
alternative formpokey
Adjective
comparativepokier
superlativepokiest

Origin of poky

By shortening from poker machine (“gambling device”).

From slowpoke.

Words formed from poky

Phrases with poky

Questions about poky

What does poky mean?
Poky means slow.
What is poky the alternative spelling of?
Poky is the alternative spelling of pokie.
What part of speech is poky?
Poky can be an adjective or a noun.

Words near poky in the dictionary

  1. Pokrov
  2. Pokrova
  3. Pokrovsk
  4. pokrovskite
  5. Pokupsko
  6. poky
  7. poky bonnet
  8. poky bonnets
  9. poké
  10. poké bowl
  11. poké bowls

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: poky (page history and authors); pokie (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:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-au-poky.ogg.

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