English

Noun

coxcombry ‎(usually uncountable, plural coxcombries)

1. (countable) A behaviour or manner that is characteristic of a coxcomb; a foppish behaviour.
   • 1865, Theodore Winthrop, John Brent, Chapter IX,

     He was clean shaved; clean shaving is a favorite coxcombry of the deacon class.

2. (uncountable) Behaviour or airs characteristic of a coxcomb; foppishness.
   • 1824, Lord Byron, Don Juan, Canto the Fifteenth, XII,

     His manner was perhaps the more seductive, / Because he ne'er seem'd anxious to seduce; / Nothing affected, studied, or constructive / Of coxcombry or conquest: no abuse / Of his attractions marr'd the fair perspective, / To indicate a Cupidon broke loose, / And seem to say, "Resist us if you can" -- / Which makes a dandy while it spoils a man.

   • 1855, Herman Melville, Israel Potter, Chapter XI,

     He paused, grimly regarding it, while a dash of pleased coxcombry seemed to mingle with the otherwise savage satisfaction expressed in his face.

   • 1871, Thomas Hardy, Desperate Remedies, Part 13, Chapter 3,

     A man emasculated by coxcombry may spend more time upon the arrangement of his clothes than any woman, but even then there is no fetichism in his idea of them--they are still only a covering he uses for a time.