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

Relevance

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

Trump had called for the leakers to face long-term jail sentences.

— Chad de Guzman, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
In 2024, Indonesia revised its anti-wildlife trafficking law to bring in stricter fines and longer jail sentences.

— Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of jail

Noun

The 911 call recordings, as reported by the Associated Press, showed that first responders and prison officials did not know whether a request for emergency help from within the execution chamber was legitimate.

— David Zimmermann, The Washington Examiner, 13 Oct. 2026
Eady-Williams sentenced Pham and Salerno to life in prison without possibility of parole for the murder charges.

— Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of prison

Browse Nearby Words

pokes fun at

pokey

pokeys

See all Nearby Words

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Style

“Pokey.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/pokey. Accessed 20 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of pokey

noun

Example Sentences

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