Word.ws English Dictionary

real McCoy

real McCoy noun: the genuine thing, neither a substitute nor an imitation.

Noun

the real McCoy

  1. (dated, idiomatic) The genuine thing, neither a substitute nor an imitation.
    Synonyms:
    real deal

Synonyms of real McCoy

Forms of real McCoy

alternative formreal McKoy
alternative formreal Macoy

Origin of real McCoy

Corruption of Scots the real MacKay, this latter attested in 1856 as “A drappie o’ the real MacKay” (A drop of the real MacKay). How “MacKay” became “McCoy” is unclear; first attested in the form “McCoy” in the US in 1908. The term is the subject of many folk etymologies, discussed at the Wikipedia entry.

Questions about real McCoy

What does real McCoy mean?
Real McCoy means the genuine thing, neither a substitute nor an imitation.
What part of speech is real McCoy?
Real McCoy is a noun.

Words near real McCoy in the dictionary

  1. real line
  2. real lines
  3. real live
  4. real lives
  5. real Macoy
  6. real McCoy
  7. real McKoy
  8. real men don't eat quiche
  9. real mode
  10. real nappies
  11. real nappy

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: real McCoy (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-real McCoy.ogg.

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