tenderfoot

American  

[ten-der-foot] / ˈtɛn dərˌfʊt /

noun

plural

tenderfoots, tenderfeet

1. a raw, inexperienced person; novice.

2. a newcomer to the ranching and mining regions of the western U.S., unused to hardships.

3. one in the lowest rank of the Boy Scouts of America or Girl Scouts of America.

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tenderfoot British  

/ ˈtɛndəˌfʊt /

noun

1. a newcomer, esp to the mines or ranches of the southwestern US

2. (formerly) a beginner in the Scouts or Guides

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Etymology

Origin of tenderfoot

An Americanism dating back to 1840–50; tender ¹ + foot

Explanation

A tenderfoot is someone inexperienced. Usually, a tenderfoot is someone unaccustomed to outdoor living. Originally, a tenderfoot was an immigrant to the United States who wasn't used to the rough pioneer life, especially the hardships of ranching and mining. From there, this word came to mean any inexperienced person. A rookie on a football team is a tenderfoot. Someone new at a job could is a tenderfoot. This word best applies to people who aren't used to roughing it outdoors. A summer camp counselor who isn’t used to sleeping outside is definitely a tenderfoot.

Example Sentences

But one month later the Times accused “all Northern California” of conspiring against “Southland,” sending agents to “spy out the land and send the tenderfoot northward.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 2, 2025

She was 18, new to New York, a tenderfoot in an industry said to eat its young.

From New York Times • Jan. 13, 2024

He joins a long and eclectic tradition of tenderfoot film-makers making good on their cinematic dreams – some of whom started even younger.

From The Guardian • Nov. 13, 2019

In 1883, 25-year-old Theodore Roosevelt, a New York City tenderfoot wearing a Brooks Brothers suit, came to what was then Dakota Territory to hunt bison.

From Washington Post • Oct. 1, 2015

“Your plan to show up Eugene Hammond as a tenderfoot at the butchering,” I said to refresh his memory.

From "The Teacher’s Funeral" by Richard Peck