Why this word is great
COXCOMBRY — [Noun] Behaviour or airs characteristic of a coxcomb; foppishness. From coxcomb ("a vain, conceited man; a fop") + -ry (a suffix forming nouns denoting a characteristic or quality). Unlike dandyism (which aspires to elegance) or affectation (which cloaks itself in artifice), coxcombry is vanity laid bare—a peacock’s strut without the plumage to justify it. It is the preening of a man in a too-tight waistcoat, the flourish of an unnecessary cane, the way a laugh lingers just a beat too long at one’s own joke—each gesture a plea for admiration that only underscores its absence. A coxcomb mistakes the mirror for an audience, and the world, inevitably, disappoints him.