knockabout

American  

[nok-uh-bout] / ˈnɒk əˌbaʊt /

noun

1. Nautical. any of various fore-and-aft-rigged sailing vessels having a single jib bent to a stay from the stemhead, no bowsprit being used: usually rigged as a sloop.

2. something designed or suitable for rough or casual use, as a sturdy jacket, a secondhand car, etc.

3. a slapstick comedian or comedy.

4. Australian. an itinerant farm hand or ranch hand; an itinerant handyman.

5. British Archaic. wanderer.

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adjective

1. suitable for rough use, as a garment.

   a knockabout jacket and jeans.

2. characterized by knocking about; rough; boisterous.

3. slapstick.

   knockabout comedy.

4. shiftless; aimless.

   a knockabout kind of person.

Etymology

Origin of knockabout

First recorded in 1875–80; noun, adj. use of verb phrase knock about

Example Sentences

His adaptation maintains a knockabout, almost farcical pace.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 31, 2026

McCowan's words sparked something - and it was good knockabout stuff.

From BBC • Feb. 28, 2026

Abbi Jacobson and Ilana Glazer are the talented stars and creators of “Broad City,” a delightful, knockabout comedy.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 24, 2022

The son of a butcher who had fled Nazi Germany, Mr. Caan grew up in the 1940s and 1950s on the knockabout streets of the outer boroughs of New York.

From Washington Post • Jul. 7, 2022

Like we was old knockabout friends of the streets.

From "The Whipping Boy" by Sid Fleischman