roosterish

English

Etymology

rooster +‎ -ish

Adjective

roosterish (comparative more roosterish, superlative most roosterish)

1. Resembling or characteristic of a rooster.
   • 1988, Peter Straub, Koko, Anchor Books, published 2009, →ISBN, page 62:

     Jimmy Lah was pouring some soapy blender concoction for the bar's only customer besides himself, a fruitcake with a roosterish yellow Mohawk and oversized pink eyeglasses.

   • 2012, Mary Stewart Atwell, Wild Girls‎^[1], Doubleday Canada, →ISBN:

     When Kayak Boy was mad he put his shoulders back and stuck his head forward, a roosterish stance that reminded me of Travis.

   • 2013, Jeannie Gray, Ian Fraser, Australian Bird Names: A Complete Guide, CSIRO Publishing, →ISBN, page 86:

     Perhaps in reference to its spectacular, arguably roosterish, red comb-like frontal plate.

2. (figuratively) Cocky, arrogant, prideful.
   • 1933, Barnaby Ross, Drury Lane's Last Case, republished, March 1946, as by Ellery Queen, Little, Brown, page 24:

     "Poor boy," said Patience sympathetically, and Fisher eyed her with suddenly aroused manhood. "And that's all?"

     His big shoulders drooped, and the roosterish look went out of his eyes.

   • 1955, Herman Wouk, Marjorie Morningstar‎^[2], Little, Brown and Company, published 2013, →ISBN:

     […] and when it was over he would blink and smirk around at the ladies, with a roosterish pride quite engaging to behold.

   • 2012, Karl Taro Greenfeld, Triurbia‎^[3], HarperCollins, →ISBN:

     He is very handsome, though too roosterish for me, with his big yacht and yellow sports car and overenthusiastic swimming.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:roosterish.