Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. An inexperienced or immature person, especially one who is easily deceived.
- n. A newcomer, especially one who is unfamiliar with the ways of a place or group.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. A raw, inexperienced person; one unacquainted with the world or with local customs, and therefore easily imposed upon.
Wiktionary
- n. an inexperienced person; a novice, beginner or newcomer
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. A raw, inexperienced person; one easily imposed upon.
WordNet 3.0
- n. an awkward and inexperienced youth
Etymologies
- Middle English greene horn, horn of a newly slaughtered animal : grene, green; see green + horn, horn; see horn.
Examples
“At the word greenhorn Abe Potash leaned forward and struck the table with his open hand.”
Abe and Mawruss Being Further Adventures of Potash and Perlmutter
“Being a "greenhorn" -- i.e., just off the boat -- was a put down back when your professor, PT, was coming up.”
“A fool of a greenhorn was a-managin 'of the thing, an' this is the result.”
The Rover Boys on the Great Lakes Or, the secret of the island cave
“I inquired what he meant, was first called a greenhorn for not knowing, and then had it explained to me.”
“Renee W. said, "Sometimes a greenhorn is a dark horse and even a nova.”
“For Jews in New York, eating in Chinese restaurants signified that one was not a provincial or parochial Eastern European Jew, not a "greenhorn" or hick.”
“Anyhow that means a sort of 'greenhorn' I suppose.”
“I can't no more wear my 'greenhorn' shawl going out with an American.”
“This new wave of hope swept aside the fact that she was the "greenhorn" janitress, that she was twenty-two and dowryless, and, according to the traditions of her people, condemned to be shelved aside as an unmated thing – a creature of pity and ridicule.”
“One of their favorite tricks was to persuade some "greenhorn" to act as surety for a loan.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘greenhorn’.
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I Am A Starfish. I Speak With Paint.
List title totally stolen from she. Right, the stock entry for this list should be a two-word phrase where one of the words denotes a colour; even better if the expression has some metaphoric value...
black dog, tangerine dream, orange roughy, blue moon, blackguard, white house, purple rain, grey nurse, green thumb, yellow fever, sacre bleu, palo verde and 156 more...
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Open List: Greens
A lits of greens: cooked leafy vegetables; pigments, paint names, compound words, etc; words and phrases that pertain to or contain "green". Please add your favorites!
See this list f...greenery, collard greens, mustard greens, turnip greens, green shoots, viridian green, malachite green, sap green, green grocer, radish greens, beet greens, spring green and 281 more...
ofravens None of that greenhorn lot matched her bright crown
from "The Queen's Complaint," Sylvia Plath Apr 14, 2008