young Turk

English

Wikipedia

Alternative forms

• Young Turk

Noun

young Turk (plural young Turks)

1. (historical) From the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, a member of a movement that campaigned for reform of the Ottoman Empire.
2. (idiomatic, by extension) A young person who agitates for political or other reform; a young person with a rebellious disposition.
   • 1885, Horatio Alger, Hector's Inheritance, ch. 14:

     "What! Roscoe?" inquired the principal.

     "Yes."

     "Is he in any mischief?"

     "Mischief? I should say so! Why, he's a regular young Turk."

     "A young Turk? I don't think I understand you, James."

     "I mean, he's a young ruffian."

   • 1966 Sep. 30, "Jazz: Man with a Brain," Time:

     He arrives at a time when jazz's discontented Young Turks have disdainfully turned away from their audiences and gone off to explore the way-out.

Usage notes

• Often used in the plural form.