Liberal Dictionary English Dictionary
hobbledehoy [hob-uh l-dee-hoi] ExamplesWord Origin noun
- an awkward, ungainly youth.
Origin of hobbledehoy 1530–40; variant of hoberdyhoy, alliterative compound, equivalent to hoberd (variant of Roberd Robert) + -y2 + -hoy for boy (b > h for alliteration; see hob2) Examples from the Web for hobbledehoy Historical Examples of hobbledehoy
But what I can’t understand is why you should be so sorry for a hobbledehoy like that.
Martin Anderson Nexo
Janice, however, never lost her temper with this hobbledehoy cousin.
Helen Beecher Long
“Tas the way with them foweners,” said the first hobbledehoy sagely.
Herbert George Wells
Aye, and have ever since she was in pinafores, and I a hobbledehoy in Master Wytheby’s school.
Francis Lynde
A man rarely carries his shyness past the hobbledehoy period.
Idle Thoughts of an Idle Fellow
Jerome K. Jerome
British Dictionary definitions for hobbledehoy hobbledehoy noun
- archaic, or dialect a clumsy or bad-mannered youth
Word Origin for hobbledehoy C16: from earlier hobbard de hoy, of uncertain origin Word Origin and History for hobbledehoy n.
“clumsy or awkward youth,” 1530s, of uncertain origin and the subject of much discussion. First element is probably hob in its sense of “clown, prankster” (see hobgoblin), the second element perhaps is Middle French de haye “worthless, untamed, wild,” literally “of the hedge.”