English Explanatory Dictionary

hoodlum

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A gangster; a hired thug.
  2. A rough or violent youth.

Pronunciation

/ˈhuːdləm/ /ˈhʊdləm/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hoodlum.wav

Word forms

hoodlum hoodlums

Etymology

First attested in a December 1866 Daily Alta California article, which mentions "the 'Hoodlum Gang' of juvenile thieves". Several possible origins have been proposed. It may derive from a Germanic word like Swabian hudelum (“disorderly”) or Bavarian Haderlump (“ragamuffin”). Herbert Asbury's book The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933, A. A. Knopf, New York) says the word originated in San Francisco from a particular street gang's call to unemployed Irishmen to "huddle 'em" (to beat up Chinese migrants), after which San Francisco newspapers took to calling street gangs "hoodlums".

Synonyms

criminal crook committer culprit delinquent desperado double-dealer felon hoodlum lawbreaker lowlife malefactor malfeasant offender outlaw perpetrator public enemy scofflaw undesirable agitator bad boy bad news bear beggar bhoy blackguard booger boot boy bovver boy brat brawler breedbate buffoon bugger bully charva cutup devil elf enfant terrible firebrand gadfly hell-raiser hood hool hoolie hooligan hothead imp inciter initiator instigator jackanapes joker jokester kindle-coal kindle-fire knave lout makebate

Derived words

hoodlumish hoodlumize hoodlumry
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