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 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. Spanish: novato (es) m.

a novice

Bulgarian: новак (bg) 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. 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)