greenhorn

[green-hawrn]

See more synonyms for greenhorn on Thesaurus.com

noun

an untrained or inexperienced person.
a naive or gullible person; someone who is easily tricked or swindled.
Slang. a newly arrived immigrant; newcomer.

Origin of greenhorn

1425–75; late Middle English; see green, horn; orig. applied to cattle with green (i.e., young) horns

Related formsgreen·horn·ism, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for greenhorn

rube, tenderfoot, beginner, learner, colt, novice, recruit, neophyte, virgin, amateur, newcomer, hayseed, simpleton, babe, tyro, apprentice, naif, ingenue

Examples from the Web for greenhorn

Historical Examples of greenhorn

Only a greenhorn is careless of the comfort and welfare of his horse.
Two Arrows
William O. Stoddard
But little fish are sweet, and he thought he had secured a greenhorn.
Young Mr. Barter's Repentance
David Christie Murray
Besides, if you are a greenhorn, you act as if you know what you are about.'
The Continental Monthly , Vol. 2 No. 5, November 1862
Various
He told us not to lean out of the windows, not to point, and explained the word "greenhorn."
The Promised Land
Mary Antin
I might have knowed it was some greenhorn, when I heard you coming two points off your course.
Blow The Man Down
Holman Day

British Dictionary definitions for greenhorn

greenhorn

noun

an inexperienced person, esp one who is extremely gullible
mainly US a newcomer or immigrant

Word Origin for greenhorn

C17: originally an animal with green (that is, young) horns

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

Word Origin and History for greenhorn

mid-15c., "young horned animal," from green (adj.) in sense of "new, fresh, recent" + horn (n.). Applied to new soldiers from c.1650; extended to any inexperienced person by 1680s.