cockalorum

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cockalorum

/ˈkɒkəˌlɔːɹəm/ UK

Where it comes from

Possibly English cock (“rooster”), with -a- and Latin -lorum suffixed as a fanciful elaboration; or from a Dutch onomatopoeic dialect term kockeloeren (“the cry of a rooster; cock-a-doodle-doo”), hence the modern Dutch verb koekeloeren (“to crow”).

noun cockalorums

countable A menial yet self-important person; a person who makes empty boasts. I remark that everyone (with the exception of such Cockalorums as the Guard, who rather stands on the dignity of his uniform, I imagine) understands the Captain's English, while they don't seem to get on very well with my French.
uncountable Boastful speech, crowing. 'Sounding grander is not always better,' answered the cobber. 'Did you never hear tell of High Cockalorum?' / 'High Cockalorum! What's that?' / 'It's what they call high footling speech, or a self-important man who likes to call everything by fancy names,' said his master. 'And as I heard it, it did
uncountable A game similar to leapfrog. We played cockalorum from one side of the street to the other.
Similar: high cockalorum

Translations

Every language

noun menial, yet self-important person

Română	cocalar

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MLA

"cockalorum." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/cockalorum. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

cockalorum. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/cockalorum

Chicago

"cockalorum." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/cockalorum.

BibTeX

@misc{cockalorum_2026,
  title = {cockalorum},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/cockalorum},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}