poxyadj.
/ˈpɒksi/, U.S. /ˈpɑksi/ Infected with pox; spotty. Now in weakened colloquial use (chiefly British): of poor quality, useless, worthless (frequently as a general term of abuse). Also poxy-faced adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > importance > unimportance > [adjective] > paltry, mean, or contemptible
unworthlyc1230
wretcha1250
seely1297
vilec1320
not worth a cress (kerse)1377
the value of a rushc1380
threadbarec1412
wretched1450
miserable?a1513
rascal1519
prettya1522
not worth a whistlea1529
pegrall1535
plack1539
pelting1540
scald1542
sleeveless1551
baggage1553
paltering1553
piddling1559
twopenny1560
paltry1565
rubbish1565
baggagely1573
pelfish1577
halfpenny1579
palting1579
baubling1581
three-halfpenny1581
pitiful1582
triobolar1585
squirting1589
not worth a lousea1592
hedge1596
cheap1597
peddling1597
dribbling1600
mean1600
rascally1600
three-farthingc1600
draughty1602
dilute1605
copper1609
peltry?a1610
threepenny1613
pelsy1631
pimping1640
triobolary1644
pigwidgeon1647
dustya1649
fiddling1652
puddlinga1653
insignificant1658
piteous1667
snotty1681
scrubbed1688
dishonourable1699
scrub1711
footy1720
fouty1722
rubbishing1731
chuck-farthing1748
rubbishy1753
shabby1753
scrubby1754
poxya1758
rubbishly1777
waff-like1808
trinkety1817
meanish1831
one-eyed1843
twiddling1844
measly1847
poking1850
picayunish1852
vild1853
picayune1856
snide1859
two-cent1859
rummagy1872
faddling1883
finicking1886
slushy1889
twopence halfpenny1890
jerk1893
pissy1922
crappy1928
two-bit1932
piddly1933
chickenshit1934
pissing1937
penny packet1943
farkakte1960
pony1964
gay1978
the mind > goodness and badness > inferiority or baseness > inferior person > [adjective] > as abused
lousyc1386
greasya1529
mongrela1594
shake rotten1595
strummell-patch1600
thornbackly1605
toad-spotted1608
pissabed1643
shit-breeched1664
shit-breech1675
mole-catching1693
nine-eyed1694
poxya1758
cocksucking1872
bastard1877
motherfucking1890
son-of-a-bitching1902
so-and-so1929
mother-raping1932
zombie1937
chickenshit1940
pissy-arsed1940
bastarding1944
mother-loving1948
mothering1951
the world > health and disease > ill health > a disease > eruption > [adjective] > pimple
ploukyc1440
blobbed1486
pimpled1506
ploukedc1540
precious1581
whealy1611
spotty1620
pimpling1628
plouky-faced?1645
ampery1736
pimply1747
poxya1758
papulous1800
papular1813
papulated1822
whelky1822
pimplous1906
zitty1971
a1758 A. Ramsay Wks (1961) III. ii. 200 Let him grumph till his poxy Bones ake all.
1785 Oriental Mag. Sept. 285/2 The English method [of inoculation] by incision, which instantly conducts the poxy matter into the massy blood.
1922 J. Joyce Ulysses i. i. [Telemachus] 6 God knows what poxy bowsy left them off.
1950 M. Peake Gormenghast xxii. 149 Every poxy sunrise of the year, eh, that you burst out of the decent darkness in that plucked way?
1958 F. Norman Bang to Rights i. 22 I'm doing a bleeding neves. I'll be going down the Moor soon that will be the third poxy time.
1968 N. Bethell & D. Burg tr. A. Solzhenitsyn Cancer Ward i. xix. 302 You know, that poxy-faced guy, the one with all the bandages.
1983 J. Kelman Not Not While Giro 13 He has fourteen tenants paying around £3.00 each for those poxy wee rooms.
2002 R. Williams Sing yer Heart out for Lads i. 47 It was a poxy free kick.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.a1758