Green’s Dictionary of Slang

moxie n.2

also moxey, moxy
[from the tradename of a once-popular US soft drink Moxie, developed c.1880 and patented 1924; it poss. contained moxie, or wintergreen; ult. Algonquin root maski-, medicine]

1. (US) courage, impudence, ability.

[US]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.
[US](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.
[US]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.
[US]‘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.
[US]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!
[US]T. Southern Blue Movie (1974) 190: I never said the ‘Prick’ didn’t have moxie.
[US]H.E. Roberts Third Ear n.p.: moxey n. nerve; daring; e.g. He had the moxey to demand money from the boss.
[US]J. Wambaugh Secrets of Harry Bright (1986) 8: He gave each cop [...] the same admonition: ‘I gotta have people with street smarts and moxie’.
[US]L. Stringer Grand Central Winter (1999) 65: I was both captivated and unsettled by his moxy.
[US]E. Bunker Mr Blue 332: Her most attractive characteristic, however, was not physical; it was her moxie. She was dying for adventure.
[UK]Indep. Rev. 17 Dec. 13: And what she lacks in cleavage, she makes up for in moxy – and moxy goes a long way.
[US]Week (US) 8 June 25: Dressed in loud Hawaiian shirts and ‘armed with can-do moxie’.
[US]T. Dorsey Riptide Ultra-Glide 145: ‘Always the character! Full of moxie!’.

2. (US black) an impudent upstart.

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