larrikin

[ lar-i-kin ]
See synonyms for larrikin on Thesaurus.com
noun
  1. a street rowdy; hoodlum.

adjective
  1. disorderly; rowdy.

Origin of larrikin

1
First recorded in 1865–70; origin uncertain

Other words from larrikin

  • lar·ri·kin·ism, noun

Words Nearby larrikin

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use larrikin in a sentence

  • The belligerent whine was enough to renew the identity of the mangy little larrikin whose couch on the sand he had shared.

  • He looked quite domestic and almost paternal as he shuffled his broad feet and towered over the little larrikin.

  • Thus the inevitable informing larrikin, eager to cadge a drink from the tourist on shore leave.

  • "Nothing like the Australian larrikin when he gets going," you will be told.

    The Pacific Triangle | Sydney Greenbie
  • I'm as good a man as him, though I'm a larrikin and he's a twopenny lord.

    Tiny Luttrell | Ernest William Hornung

British Dictionary definitions for larrikin

larrikin

/ (ˈlærɪkɪn) /


nounAustralian and NZ slang
    • a mischievous person

    • (as modifier): a larrikin bloke

  1. a hooligan

Origin of larrikin

1
C19: from English dialect: a mischievous youth

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012