How to Use cocky in a Sentence

cocky

adjective
  • Don't get too cocky about your chances of getting the job.
  • Dude, this is gonna sound so cocky, but no.
    — Dalton Ross, Entertainment Weekly, 11 Dec. 2025
  • Nicklaus looked lumpy and came across as equal parts cocky and grumpy.
    — Dale Robertson Staff Writer, San Antonio Express-News, 11 June 2018
  • Despite the fuss made over him, Tatum was not cocky or brash.
    — Adam Himmelsbach, BostonGlobe.com, 20 Apr. 2018
  • As a rule, cornerbacks are a cocky bunch and thus good at pressers.
    — Kevin Sherrington, Dallas Morning News, 5 Jan. 2026
  • Don't get too cocky, as your latest success may have been more luck than skill.
    — Magi Helena, oregonlive, 20 Jan. 2020
  • Butt-Head still manages to be cocky even when he gets shut down time and time again.
    — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 4 Aug. 2022
  • Velasco told the agents that Mays was cocky and talked too much.
    — Megan Rose, ProPublica, 23 Sep. 2022
  • The Beavers were either too proud or too cocky to respect that fact.
    — Joseph Goodman | [email protected], al, 14 June 2022
  • On her soccer team, she was known for being cocky – but with good reason.
    — Ryan Lenora Brown, The Christian Science Monitor, 21 Apr. 2020
  • Maryland crabs aren't a dime a dozen, and the cocky little pinchers know it.
    — Kaitlyn Yarborough, Southern Living, 25 July 2023
  • The plot's logic is subservient to its star's cocky charisma.
    — Tom Gliatto, Peoplemag, 14 Dec. 2022
  • He is seen as cocky and hot tempered but later changes his ways during the course of the film.
    — Okla Jones, Essence, 26 Mar. 2024
  • And not to be cocky here, but my name came up a lot, and also Cameron's name came up a lot.
    — Dalton Ross, EW.com, 29 Sep. 2023
  • But his vocals remain forceful as well as cocky and playful across the board.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 11 July 2024
  • Many of them had a cocky attitude, even after their fathers were killed.
    — Marta Balaga, Variety, 26 Mar. 2026
  • If the company gets cocky and goes too high, that could ruin a lot of the appeal here.
    — Chris Welch, The Verge, 6 Jan. 2025
  • Mayweather then steps out, looking equally as cocky, but to a crowd of boos and slurs.
    — Christine Flammia, Esquire, 27 Aug. 2017
  • The song is a bit of an about-face for the cocky demi-god voiced by Dwayne Johnson.
    — Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 28 Nov. 2024
  • Reading the poa annua greens here is like reading your wife’s mind — Don’t get too cocky, pal.
    — Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 10 Feb. 2018
  • Tom Cruise is back as the ultra-gifted, but super cocky Capt.
    — Ryan Parker, The Hollywood Reporter, 29 Mar. 2022
  • Bruce comes off as cocky in the film, and the fight includes one moment where Cliff throws him into a car.
    — Zack Sharf, Variety, 26 Oct. 2023
  • What’s a cocky teenage boy to an English teacher in middle life and his rueful wife?
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 18 Oct. 2024
  • Maybe even a tad cocky, but dedicated to honor and duty.
    — Max Tani, semafor.com, 24 Nov. 2025
  • Bogner said that Spellings got a little too cocky in the dugout between the fourth and fifth innings.
    — Mike Hutton, chicagotribune.com, 2 May 2018
  • Teague plays Jeff Shapiro, a cocky, risk-taking reporter for the Globe tabloid.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 10 Sep. 2024
  • Then there’s Renée Patrone’s style — not cocky, more like an aversion to saying no.
    — Diane Mastrull, Philly.com, 12 Apr. 2018
  • Kane, the first pick in the 2007 draft, was the cocky future superstar.
    — Phil Thompson, Chicago Tribune, 18 Dec. 2022
  • The Pacers, who are young and fast and talented and cocky and on some heater themselves, think this is their time.
    — Mike Lupica, New York Daily News, 20 May 2025
  • The cocky Red Sox failed to prepare in Florida and got off to an abysmal start.
    — Dan Shaughnessy, BostonGlobe.com, 18 Jan. 2020

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'cocky.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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