Something that is slow-moving or moves at a sluggish pace, or referring to a small cramped space.
Possibly from the verb 'poke' combined with the suffix '-y', suggesting something that moves by poking along slowly, first recorded in American English in the 1800s.
The word has a funny double life—you might describe a slow car as 'pokey' or call jail 'the pokey' (because you're stuck in a cramped space), both capturing the idea of something uncomfortable and delayed.
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