tenderfoot

American  

[ten-der-foot] / ˈtɛn dərˌfʊt /

noun

tenderfoots, plural tenderfeet plural

1. a raw, inexperienced person; novice.

2. a newcomer to the ranching and mining regions of the western U.S., unused to hardships.

3. one in the lowest rank of the Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of America.

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tenderfoot British  

/ ˈtɛndəˌfʊt /

noun

1. a newcomer, esp to the mines or ranches of the southwestern US

2. (formerly) a beginner in the Scouts or Guides

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• tenderfeet
  plural
• tenderfoots
  plural

Etymology

Origin of tenderfoot

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; tender ¹ + foot

Explanation

A tenderfoot is someone inexperienced. Usually, a tenderfoot is someone unaccustomed to outdoor living. Originally, a tenderfoot was an immigrant to the United States who wasn't used to the rough pioneer life, especially the hardships of ranching and mining. From there, this word came to mean any inexperienced person. A rookie on a football team is a tenderfoot. Someone new at a job could is a tenderfoot. This word best applies to people who aren't used to roughing it outdoors. A summer camp counselor who isn’t used to sleeping outside is definitely a tenderfoot.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

tenderfoot tenderfeet tenderfoots

But one month later the Times accused “all Northern California” of conspiring against “Southland,” sending agents to “spy out the land and send the tenderfoot northward.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2025

He joins a long and eclectic tradition of tenderfoot film-makers making good on their cinematic dreams – some of whom started even younger.

From The Guardian ● Nov. 13, 2019

In 1883, 25-year-old Theodore Roosevelt, a New York City tenderfoot wearing a Brooks Brothers suit, came to what was then Dakota Territory to hunt bison.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 1, 2015

While elegant with white-plaster walls, stainless-steel kitchen appliances and posh comforts, the cabin’s not a total tenderfoot, either.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 1, 2015

“Your plan to show up Eugene Hammond as a tenderfoot at the butchering,” I said to refresh his memory.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck

Once in the woods, teachers fell back, leaving tenderfeet to find their way together.

From New York Times ● Jun. 25, 2021

But there’s an advantage to being a freshman in a big class like this one — as tenderfeet, they’re not bound by deals and pacts made in previous sessions.

From New York Times ● Jan. 7, 2011

Remember this Leadville was in the early Tabor period a camp largely of tenderfeet, who, released from the restraining influence of their Eastern homes, ran wild for a time; a condition exotic rather than indigenous.

From Time Magazine Archive

Idaho, which has almost twice as much trout water as California and Oregon combined, and only about a tenth as many fishermen, has plenty of other streams where tenderfeet can do better.

From Time Magazine Archive

Ye're tenderfeet, I daur wager—so are we for that maitter—but I wouldna tak' my wife into such wark, nay, nay.

From A Claim on Klondyke A Romance of the Arctic El Dorado by Roper, Edward

It could betray to our peers the awful truth that we are still greenhorns, tenderfoots, newbies.

From "The Sense of Style" by Steven Pinker

He thought it was his privilege to "string along the tenderfoots" a little.

From Nan Sherwood at Rose Ranch by Carr, Annie Roe

But I’m free to confess if a parson and a crew of psalm-singing tenderfoots came here, I’d like enough pull my freight again—and that time for keeps!

From The Heart of Canyon Pass by Holmes, Thomas K.

But don't forget that tenderfoots are like moisture, they seep in everywhere.

From The Underdogs, a Story of the Mexican Revolution by Munguía, E. (Enrique)

In the rough field of experience the tenderfoots and greenhorns of the Silver Fox Patrol are fast learning to take care of themselves when abroad.

From The Boy Chums in the Forest or Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades by Davis, J. Watson