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Coxcomb vs Coxcombry - What's the difference?

coxcomb | coxcombry |

As nouns the difference between coxcomb and coxcombry

is that coxcomb is the cap of a court jester, adorned with a red stripe while coxcombry is a behaviour or manner that is characteristic of a coxcomb; a foppish behaviour.

coxcomb

English

Noun

(en noun)
  • (obsolete) The cap of a court jester, adorned with a red stripe.
  • A foolish or conceited person; a dandy.
  • *
    • for though I am afraid the doctor was a little of a coxcomb , he might be nevertheless very much of a surgeon.
  • * 2010 ,
    • And she nearly started a fight between two young fops in plumed hats and flouncy collars: "Clay-brained coxcomb !" "Mewling milk-livered maggot!"
  • The fleshy red pate of a rooster.

    • Quotations

    * (English Citations of "coxcomb")

    Derived terms

    * coxcombical * coxcombically

    Synonyms

    * cockscomb (3) * fool (2) * popinjay

    coxcombry

    English

    Noun

    (en-noun)
  • (countable) A behaviour or manner that is characteristic of a coxcomb; a foppish behaviour.
  • * 1865 , , Chapter IX,
    • He was clean shaved; clean shaving is a favorite coxcombry of the deacon class.
  • (uncountable) Behaviour or airs characteristic of a coxcomb; foppishness.
  • * 1824 , , Canto the Fifteenth, XII,
    • His manner was perhaps the more seductive, / Because he ne'er seem'd anxious to seduce; / Nothing affected, studied, or constructive / Of coxcombry or conquest: no abuse / Of his attractions marr'd the fair perspective, / To indicate a Cupidon broke loose, / And seem to say, "Resist us if you can" -- / Which makes a dandy while it spoils a man.
  • * 1855 , , Chapter XI,
    • He paused, grimly regarding it, while a dash of pleased coxcombry seemed to mingle with the otherwise savage satisfaction expressed in his face.
  • * 1871 , , Part 13, Chapter 3,
    • A man emasculated by coxcombry may spend more time upon the arrangement of his clothes than any woman, but even then there is no fetichism in his idea of them--they are still only a covering he uses for a time.