hoodlum
pronunciation
How to pronounce hoodlum in British English:
UK [ˈhu:dləm]
How to pronounce hoodlum in American English:
US [ˈhudləm, ˈhʊd-]
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- Noun:
- an aggressive and violent young criminal
Word Origin
- hoodlum (n.)
- popularized 1871, American English, (identified throughout the 1870s as "a California word") "young street rowdy, loafer," especially one involved in violence against Chinese immigrants, "young criminal, gangster;" it appears to have been in use locally from a slightly earlier date and may have begun as a specific name of a gang: The police have recently been investigating the proceedings of a gang of thieving boys who denominate themselves and are known to the world as the Hoodlum Gang. [San Francisco "Golden Era" newspaper, Feb. 16, 1868, p.4] Of unknown origin, though newspapers of the day printed myriad fanciful stories concocted to account for it. A guess perhaps better than average is that it is from German dialectal (Bavarian) Huddellump "ragamuffin" [Barnhart]. What the derivation of the word "hoodlum" is we could never satisfactorily ascertain, though several derivations have been proposed; and it would appear that the word has not been very many years in use. But, however obscure the word may be, there is nothing mysterious about the thing; .... [Walter M. Fisher, "The Californians," London, 1876]
Example
- 1. The hoodlum stabbed at me with a dagger .
- 2. A violent or rowdy person ; a hoodlum or thug .
- 3. Hoodlum special use : strike the increasingly grieved poker increasingly .
- 4. In the history the most hoodlum drinks .
- 5. You are a group of bandit hoodlum .