Cozy

How to spell cozy

4 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce cozy

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does cozy mean?

1. adjectiveGiving a feeling of warmth, comfort, and relaxed shelter.
2. verbTo move closer to someone or something for comfort, or to gain favour.

Cozy in a sentence

• adjective

  The small cabin felt warm and cozy once the fire was lit.

• verb

  The kitten began to cozy up against the radiator for warmth.

• adjective

  She curled up in a cozy corner of the cafe with her book.

• verb

  Some politicians cozy up to wealthy donors before an election.

Where does cozy come from?

Language of origin: Other

Cozy first surfaces in Scots in the early 1700s, spelled in forms such as 'cosie' and 'colsie', describing a person or place that was snug and sheltered. Its deeper origin is genuinely uncertain, but the strongest trail leads to the Scandinavian languages: compare Norwegian 'koselig' and Swedish 'kosa', words tied to warmth, comfort, and a settled, contented mood. The term spread south into general English over the 1700s and 1800s, broadening from literal warmth to the wider feeling of relaxed comfort we use today. The spelling split along dialect lines, with the z form 'cozy' becoming standard in American and much of Canadian writing while the s form 'cosy' settled in as the British norm. Because the word probably came in by ear from spoken Scots rather than through a written Latin or French source, there is no tidy classical root to anchor the spelling, which is exactly why the z versus s choice trips writers up.

How the word is built

• cozy (a single root adjective of uncertain Scots origin; the final -y patterns with other comfort words like comfy and homey, though here it is part of the root rather than a separate suffix)

British and American spelling

Cozy is the American spelling. British English spells it cosy.