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; see hob ²)

Example Sentences

When asked about geography, the Hobbledehoy declares that he does not know what is meant, and his mother prompts him with "'Eography," after asking Právdin what he said.

From A Survey of Russian Literature, with Selections by Hapgood, Isabel Florence

Hobbledehoy, hob′l-de-hoi′, n. an awkward youth, a stripling, neither man nor boy.—adj.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

The Hobbledehoy, translated into French as Un Adolescent, is, on the whole, Dostoevski's worst novel, which is curious enough, coming at a time when he was doing some of his best work.

From Essays on Russian Novelists by Phelps, William Lyon

"The Hobbledehoy" was wholly unlike anything which had been seen hitherto in Russian literature.

From A Survey of Russian Literature, with Selections by Hapgood, Isabel Florence