English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From cop +‎ wise.

Adjective edit

copwise (comparative more copwise, superlative most copwise)

  1. (informal) Possessing the knowledge and expertise typical of police officers; having police smarts.
    • 2014, James Ellroy, Perfidia:
      They were copwise. Hiltz knew him from the Deutsches Haus. Smith provoked discord routinely. They were copwise.
    • 2015, Billy Van, Dead of Night:
      Steve went against his copwise instincts and entered the building anyway.
    • 2016, Forrest Stuart, Down, Out, and Under Arrest:
      Like streetwise residents in underpoliced neighborhoods, copwise individuals learn to reinterpret the mundane scenarios, spaces, and people found in the neighborhood.

Anagrams edit