Etymology

poncy

P3O1N1C3Y4

Today it means: Intended to impress others, particularly in an excessively refined or ostentatious manner; affected, pretentious. Full definition →

First used 19th c.
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The story

From ponce (“kept man; pimp; effeminate man; homosexual man”) + -y (suffix forming adjectives meaning ‘having the quality of’).

First known use, by meaning

  • from 19th c. Intended to impress others, particularly in an excessively refined or ostentatious manner; affected, pretentious.
  • from 19th c. Chiefly of a male person: effeminate; gay, homosexual.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.