rookie

Wikipedia

English

Etymology

From recruit and -ie, thought to be an alteration of recruit, another reasonable origin is Dutch broekie (short for broekvent (“a boy still in short trousers”)), a common term for a shipmate.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ʊki

Noun

rookie (plural rookies)

1. An inexperienced recruit, especially in the police or armed forces.
2. A novice.
3. An athlete either new to the sport or to a team or in his first year of professional competition, especially said of baseball, basketball, hockey and American football players.
4. (UK) A type of firecracker, used by farmers to scare rooks.

Synonyms

• beginner
• newbie, new boy
• noob
• tyro
• novice
• See also Wikisaurus:beginner

Translations

an inexperienced recruit

• Bulgarian: новобранец (bg) (novobránec) m
• Czech: bažant (cs)
• Dutch: schacht (nl) m
• French: bleu (fr) m

• Italian: recluta (it)
• Macedonian: гуштер (mk) (gúšter) m
• Russian: салага (ru) (salága) m and f, новобранец (ru) (novobránec) m
• Spanish: novato (es) m

a novice

• Bulgarian: новак (bg) (nóvak) m
• Czech: zelenáč (cs)
• Dutch: beginneling m, nieuwkomer m
• Finnish: aloittelija (fi), noviisi (fi), keltanokka (fi)
• French: bleu (fr) m

• German: Anfänger (de) m, Neuling (de) m
• Italian: principiante (it)
• Macedonian: новајлија (mk) (novájlija) m, новак (mk) (nóvak) m
• Russian: новичок (ru) (novičók) m, (green) зелёный (ru) (zeljónyj) m
• Spanish: novato (es), novicio (es) m

Adjective

rookie (not comparable)

1. non-professional; amateur

   The game was going well until I made that rookie mistake.

amateur — see amateur

See also

• naive
• rooky (homophone)