hob· ble· de· hoy | \ ˈhä-bəl-di-ˌhȯi \ Definition of hobbledehoy : an awkward gawky youth First Known Use of hobbledehoy 1540, in the meaning defined above History and Etymology for hobbledehoy origin unknown Seen & Heard People are talking about Test Your Vocabulary Which Word Does Not Belong? Which of these words does not mean "nonsense"?

A hobbledehoy is a clumsy or awkward youth. You will not find a better description of the type than in Anthony Trollope’s The Small House at Allington : “Such young men are often awkward, ungainly, and not yet formed in their gait; they straggle with their limbs, and are shy; words do not come to them with ease, when words are required, among any but their accustomed associates.

Aug 08, 2014 · HOBBLEDEHOY. A colloquial word of unsettled form and uncertain origin. One instance in hoble- occurs in 1540; otherwise hober- , hobber-, are the prevailing forms before 1700; these, with the forms in hobe- , hobby-, suggest that the word is analogous in structure to Hoberdidance , Hobbididance, and hobidy-booby. : cf. also hoberd.

Hobbledehoy. hob′l-de-hoi′, n. an awkward youth, a stripling, neither man nor boy.—adj. Hobbledehoy′ish.—n. Hobbledehoy′ism. [Prob. conn. with hobble, referring to awkward gait.]

ETYMOLOGY: Of uncertain origin. Earliest documented use: 1540. USAGE: "Burleigh's breathless accounts of the many figures of the British peerage in the story read as though written by some overawed hobbledehoy, someone who fingers the noblemen's lamé draperies in envious amazement and wonders how much they would go for at Wal-Mart."