Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (US) courage, impudence, ability.

1931		D. Runyon ‘The Old Doll’s House’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 66: Miss Abigail Ardsley’s ever-loving young guy has plenty of moxie.
1947		(con. 1944) J.H. Burns Gallery (1948) 124: I have got a good mind. And it’s disciplined. I know [...] how to hold my moxie.
1948		J. Archibald ‘Klump a la Carte’ Popular Det. July 🌐 The fake blonde still had fight and some moxey left in her, and Willie saw her winding up with the empty beer bottle.
1956		‘Ed Lacy’ Men from the Boys (1967) 56: I’d never lacked the old moxie before. Even in the ring, [...] when I knew I was outclassed and being stupid-brave, still I had the guts to keep going.
1961		R. Serling ‘A Stop at Willoughby’ in More Stories from the Twilight Zone 106: What we need here, Williams [...] is a show with zazz! An entertainment with moxie!
1970		T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 190: I never said the ‘Prick’ didn’t have moxie.
1971		H.E. Roberts Third Ear n.p.: moxey n. nerve; daring; e.g. He had the moxey to demand money from the boss.
1985		J. Wambaugh Secrets of Harry Bright (1986) 8: He gave each cop [...] the same admonition: ‘I gotta have people with street smarts and moxie’.
1998		L. Stringer Grand Central Winter (1999) 65: I was both captivated and unsettled by his moxy.
1999		E. Bunker Mr Blue 332: Her most attractive characteristic, however, was not physical; it was her moxie. She was dying for adventure.
1999		Indep. Rev. 17 Dec. 13: And what she lacks in cleavage, she makes up for in moxy – and moxy goes a long way.
2001		Week (US) 8 June 25: Dressed in loud Hawaiian shirts and ‘armed with can-do moxie’.
2013		T. Dorsey Riptide Ultra-Glide 145: ‘Always the character! Full of moxie!’.

2. (US black) an impudent upstart.

1968		I. Reed Free-Lance Pallbearers 84: How did a handicapped mind like yours ever get into judicial robes anyway, you weird-looking little moxy?
1971		E.E. Landy Underground Dict. (1972).