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Yahoos

Cultural  
  1. The crude, dirty “brutes” of the land of the Houyhnhnms in Gulliver's Travels, by Jonathan Swift. The Yahoos are irrational people and represent the worst side of humanity. By contrast, the wise and gentle Houyhnhnms, their masters, are rational horses and represent humanity at its best.


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A “yahoo” is an uncouth or uncivilized person.

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.

You’re doing all the right stuff by yourself, and you’re among professionals, medical professionals, not Yahoos, and you can still have someone else make a mistake and your life is gone.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 13, 2026

Their land is plagued by feral animals known as the Yahoos — which, Gulliver is shocked to learn, have human physical form beneath their fur.

From Nature • Sep. 26, 2017

In some coastal journalistic circles, producer Brian Reed stands accused of exploiting McLemore and other residents of Woodstock, like Gulliver descended among the Yahoos.

From The Guardian • Apr. 9, 2017

She maintained sorority discipline when the Yahoos from CNN were around.

From New York Times • Nov. 3, 2016

I assured him “that this whole globe of earth must be at least three times gone round before one of our better female Yahoos could get her breakfast, or a cup to put it in.”

From Gulliver's Travels by Swift, Jonathan