kaxig

Swedish

Etymology

From kaxe (“bigwig, big shot, bully”) +‎ -ig. First attested in 1836.

Adjective

kaxig (comparative kaxigare, superlative kaxigast)

  1. acting as if trying to get a rise out of someone, by making snide remarks or provoking them in some other way
    Är du kaxig pysen?
    What's with the attitude, boy?
    När polisen kom var de inte så kaxiga längre.
    When the police arrived they weren't so cocky anymore.
  2. similar behavior borne out of success, usually more teasing
    Han har blivit så kaxig sen han fick sin nya båt.
    He always teases me about his new boat.

Usage notes

  • Close to cocky and snotty, but not necessarily arrogant.
  • Takes on a cheeky tone when the receiving end isn't expected to be hurt by the behavior.

Declension

Inflection of kaxig
Indefinite positive comparative superlative1
common singular kaxig kaxigare kaxigast
neuter singular kaxigt kaxigare kaxigast
plural kaxiga kaxigare kaxigast
masculine plural2 kaxige kaxigare kaxigast
Definite positive comparative superlative
masculine singular3 kaxige kaxigare kaxigaste
all kaxiga kaxigare kaxigaste

1 The indefinite superlative forms are only used in the predicative.
2 Dated or archaic.
3 Only used, optionally, to refer to things whose natural gender is masculine.

  • kaxa (act in a kaxig manner)

See also

References

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.