Definition

1. Adjective:

   • Small, cramped, and shabby: Describes a place, especially a room or dwelling, that is uncomfortably small, narrow, and often in poor condition.
   • Slow, dawdling, or dull: Describes an action, process, or person that is annoyingly slow or lacking in excitement or interest.

2. Noun:

   • (Slang) A jail or prison: A correctional institution for detaining persons in legal custody.

Usage Examples

• Adjective (Small/Cramped):
  • The hotel room was so poky that we could barely turn around.
  • They lived in a poky little apartment above the shop.
• Adjective (Slow/Dull):
  • Don't be so poky, or we'll miss the start of the movie.
  • The service at the restaurant was unacceptably poky.
• Noun (Jail):
  • He spent a night in the poky for disorderly conduct.

Advanced Usage

• "poky little": A common collocation used to emphasize the insignificance and cramped nature of a place.
  • She grew up in a poky little village where nothing ever happened.
• Used informally and often with a mildly critical or disapproving tone.

Variants and Related Words

• Pokey: An alternative spelling, especially common for the noun meaning "jail."
  • He was thrown in the pokey.
• Pokiness (n.): The state or quality of being poky.
  • The pokiness of the office made it hard to concentrate.

Synonyms

• Adjective (Small/Cramped): Cramped, confined, narrow, shabby, dingy.
• Adjective (Slow): Slow, sluggish, tardy, dawdling, lethargic.
• Noun (Jail): Jail, prison, lockup, clink, brig.

Antonyms

• Adjective (Small/Cramped): Spacious, roomy, ample, luxurious.
• Adjective (Slow): Fast, quick, speedy, brisk.

Related Phrases/Idioms

• In the poky: An informal idiom meaning "in jail."
  • If you're not careful, you'll end up in the poky.

Adjective

1. small and remote and insignificant
   • a jerkwater college
   • passed a series of poky little one-horse towns
2. wasting time

Noun

1. a correctional institution used to detain persons who are in the lawful custody of the government (either accused persons awaiting trial or convicted persons serving a sentence)