popinjay
UK/ˈpɒpɪnd͡ʒeɪ//ˈpɑpənˌd͡ʒeɪ/
popinjay noun: a parrot.
Noun
popinjay (plural popinjays)
- A parrot.
- [I]nnumerable popingayes of ſundry kindes are found chattering in the groues of thoſe fenny places.1555, Peter Martyr of Angleria [i.e., Peter Martyr d’Anghiera], “The Nynth Booke of the Seconde Decade, of the Supposed Continent”, in Rycharde Eden [i.e., Richard Eden], transl., The Decades of the...
- A decorative image of a parrot on a tapestry, cloth etc.
- A vain, gaudy person; someone who is shallow or superficial.
- The very quintessence of popinjay vulgarity is reached when nicely is made to do service for well, in this wise: "How do you do?" "Nicely." "How are you?" "Nicely."1881, Alfred Ayres [pseudonym; Thomas Embly Osmun], “Nicely”, in The Verbalist
- Synonyms:
- fop, macaroni, peacock, barbermonger, beau, blade, blood, buck, carpet knight, cockscomb
- A target to shoot at, typically stuffed with feathers or plumage.
- The green woodpecker, Picus viridis.
popinjay meaning in Tamil, Kannada and Arabic
popinjay in Tamil
- டாம்பீகன், பகட்டானவர், வாயாடி
popinjay in Kannada
- ಮಹಾಜಂಬಗಾರ, ಅಹಂಕಾರಿ, ಗರ್ವಿ, ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠೆಯವನು
popinjay in Arabic
- vain, gaudy person
- سَطْحِيّ saṭḥiyy, سَطْحِيَّة saṭḥiyya
Synonyms of popinjay
- fop
- macaroni
- peacock
- carpet knight
- dandy
- dood
- fashionable
- fast man
- fine gentleman
- fribble
29 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of popinjay
| plural | popinjays |
|---|
Origin of popinjay
From Middle English popinjay, popyngeay, popingay, popejay, from Anglo-Norman papegai, papejoie et al., (northern) Old French papejai (“parrot”), probably from Old Occitan papagay (compare Occitan papagai, Catalan papagai), ultimately from Arabic بَبْغَاء (babḡāʔ, “parrot”), of imitative origin.
Questions about popinjay
- What does popinjay mean?
- Popinjay means a parrot.
- What is popinjay in Tamil?
- Popinjay in Tamil is டாம்பீகன், பகட்டானவர், வாயாடி. See Popinjay meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is popinjay?
- Popinjay is a noun.
- How do you pronounce popinjay?
- Popinjay is pronounced /ˈpɒpɪnd͡ʒeɪ/ (UK).
- What is the plural of popinjay?
- The plural of popinjay is popinjays.
Words near popinjay in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: popinjay (page history and authors); popinjay (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); popinjay (Kannada Wiktionary) (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Wodencafe-popinjay.wav.
Cite this entry: “popinjay.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/popinjay. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.