POKEY Synonyms: 51 Similar and Opposite Words

pokey

noun

ˈpō-kē

Definition of pokey

slang

as in jail

a place of confinement for persons held in lawful custody joked about the time he passed out on the street and woke up in the pokey

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

outside

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of pokey Both systems made the GeForce RTX 40 GPUs in the Dell and MSI systems look a little pokey by comparison (though those systems are definitely no slouches, in a bigger-picture sense). — PC Magazine, 12 May 2025 Put the reader on (watch out for the surprisingly pokey earpieces at the ends of the arms), and those displays merge into a single 271 ppi E Ink display. — Anthony Karcz, Forbes.com, 7 May 2025 There are reasons people are afraid of the dentist; all of those pokey instruments going into soft, sensitive places. — Erin Qualey, Vulture, 14 Feb. 2025 Thirty-three years since its founder began cutting up fabrics in a pokey South London flat, the house of McQueen’s headquarters now inhabit a six-story, 30,000-square-foot building in London’s Clerkenwell. — Hayley Maitland, Vogue, 16 Dec. 2024 See All Example Sentences for pokey

Recent Examples of Synonyms for pokey

Noun

The report examined publicly available FBI and immigration arrest data and does not include details about whether charges were dropped or if people served any time in jail or prison.

— Brittney Melton, NPR, 21 Oct. 2026
Look, the Kansas Bill of Rights clearly says you cannot be arrested or thrown in jail because of indebtedness.

— Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of jail

Noun

Three once high-flying brothers convicted of exploiting their wealth and access to luxury real estate to drug and rape dozens of women were sentenced Tuesday to 30 years in prison.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 28 Oct. 2026
Prosecutors had asked Caproni to sentence each brother to life in prison, while their attorneys sought the 15-year minimum.

— Greg Wehner, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026

Definition of prison

Noun

Beyond the towering brick walls of the Tarrant County Jail, and every other county jail and state penitentiary in the country, lies an out-of-sight-out-of-mind world that most never see, let alone experience.

— Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 14 Oct. 2026
Mexico has 276 prisons, including 14 federal penitentiaries and 249 state prisons.

— ABC News, ABC News, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of penitentiary

Browse Nearby Words

pokes fun at

pokey

pokeys

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Style

“Pokey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pokey. Accessed 29 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of pokey

noun

Example Sentences

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