greenhorn
Americannoun
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an untrained or inexperienced person.
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a naive or gullible person; someone who is easily tricked or swindled.
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Slang. a newly arrived immigrant; newcomer.
noun
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an inexperienced person, esp one who is extremely gullible
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a newcomer or immigrant
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of greenhorn
1425–75; late Middle English; see green, horn; originally applied to cattle with green (i.e., young) horns
Vocabulary lists containing greenhorn
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
They include seasoned politicians, an activist, greenhorn or two and others.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 3, 2023
I was listening to them talk of quality and seasonability when the young perfumer, with all the indelicacy of a greenhorn, announced, “I have some oudh.”
From New York Times ● May 10, 2021
They did not include Haotong Li, the 25-year-old second-round leader, but Li did refrain from the kind of free fall many would have projected from a greenhorn.
From Washington Post ● Aug. 8, 2020
Wily bank robber Wesley Snipes taunts a familiar-looking rough-and-ready cop while greenhorn Ryan Phillippe delivers a TED talk on chaos theory in this listless would-be thriller.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 25, 2019
"I don't have an extra pen," I whispered, complete sentences for whispers, that's what tells you I was still a greenhorn in this culture.
From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
