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

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

The Yahoos amplify all of humanity's worst traits, and through them Swift challenges the anthropocentric view of the world in a way that seems very modern.

From Nature • Sep. 26, 2017

New mom Mayer juggles work/life issues via a convenience not shared by other Yahoos: an on-site nursery and nanny she pays for herself.

From Time • Dec. 31, 2013

The American Fairy Tale, Fun House Style Of all the disagreeable species of humanlike beings Jonathan Swift invented in “Gulliver’s Travels,” the Yahoos are the worst and most human of all.

From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2013

The stories of the Lilliputians and Brobdingnags, purified from coarse allusions, are the delight of children; but the description of the Houyhnhnms and Yahoos excites disgust and indignation.

From The Age of Pope (1700-1744) by Dennis, John