(from www.wordsmith.org)coxcomb (KOKS-kom) noun A conceited man excessively interested in his appearance and dress; a fop. [A variant of cock's comb (a rooster's crest).]
Jesters in medieval courts wore a cap with red strips like those in a rooster's crest.
From there the sense of the term extended to a vain, pretentious dandy, (see The New Yorker's Eustace Tilley, at right, adapted for the primary season).
Today's word in Visual Thesaurus: http://visualthesaurus.com/?w1=coxcomb
"At this general assembly of coxcombs, fops and the world's greatest dunces, Theobald, an unsuccessful writer, is crowned 'Chief of the Dunces'."
-- Fame Ndongo's Pyrrhic Victory; Peterkins Manyong; The Post (Buea, Cameroon); Jan 16, 2007.
(Prithee, me hopes "codpiece" will follow anon.)
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