hobbledehoy

American  

[hob-uhl-dee-hoi] / ˈhɒb əl diˌhɔɪ /

noun

1. an awkward, ungainly youth.

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hobbledehoy British  

/ ˌhɒbəldɪˈhɔɪ /

noun

1. archaic a clumsy or bad-mannered youth

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Etymology

Origin of hobbledehoy

1530–40; variant of hoberdyhoy, alliterative compound, equivalent to hoberd (variant of Roberd Robert) + -y ² + -hoy for boy ( b > h for alliteration; hob ² )

Example Sentences

“I know a lot of these young men who are at a somewhat awkward stage, like Trollope’s hobbledehoy, caught somewhere between childhood and adulthood,” says Schine.

From Los Angeles Times

“The idea came through,” this person said, “that they do not want it just voted on by the hobbledehoy of the music industry.”

From New York Times

They who incited her very brothers, clownish hobbledehoys, and her mawkish sister to rise up against her and against him?

From Project Gutenberg

And with his eye he whipped in a couple of hobbledehoys who seemed inclined to stray towards the enemy.

From Project Gutenberg

I seemed to witness the actual progress of M. Armand, a hobbledehoy from the provinces losing his awkwardness, acquiring ease and polish in his contact with the refinement of Paris.

From Project Gutenberg