Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- n. A tough and aggressive or violent youth.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. Originally, a member of a South London gang of young street rowdies said to have been led by one named Hooligan, who indulged in boisterous horseplay and breaches of the peace; hence, any street ruffian, especially one who is a member of an organized gang; a ‘hoodlum.’
- To play the hooligan.
- To assault in the manner of the hooligans.
Wiktionary
WordNet 3.0
- n. a cruel and brutal fellow
Etymologies
- Almost certainly from the surname Houlihan. (Wiktionary)
- Origin unknown. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“1 What do you call a hooligan on a mobility scooter?”
“There was no interest in fighting, or engaging in any so-called hooligan behaviour.”
“Victor, the thought of you being called a hooligan is cracking me up Thanks for sharing your interesting perspective.”
Twenty years ago today… « Musings from an overworked translator
“McQueen was known as a hooligan of high fashion because of the way he barreled through life, thumbing his nose at popular convention.”
“A football firm (also known as a hooligan firm) is a gang formed to fight with members supporters from other clubs.”
“Mixing his tailoring skills with outrageous sensibilities, Mr. McQueen, dubbed the "hooligan" of British fashion, quickly became a sensation.”
“The origin of its current usage is currently unknown but is widely believed to be a shortened form of "hooligan".”
“• An under age criminal must now be called a "child at risk", so that he does not become traumatized by the word "hooligan".”
“Mr. Hampton and the cast cycled through dozens of English phrases for the French word "caractériel," someone who relishes in behaving badly, including "self-centered brute," "hooligan," "delinquent.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘hooligan’.
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Bad Options
words for those who commit particular crimes: i.e., bank robber, arsonist, etc.
liar, cheat, traitor, arsonist, felon, braggard, thief, profiteer, impostor, phony, fraud, culprit and 212 more...
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EN - newSPEAK
Buzzwords of our time
actionable, administrivia, advermation, agreeance, backbone provider, back-sourcing, baked in, bandwidth, barn raising, Barneyware, belly-buttons, Below Zeros and 1076 more...
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funny & derogatory
WARNING: VERY EXPLICIT. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.
funny derogatory names, quotes, phrases.
( open list, randomness, ad hom, ad hominem )
also see:
buttfucking quitter, dirty sanchez, donkey punch, falcon punch, assbadger, unicorn turd, assclown, fudgenut, quackery, friggin homo, buttmuncher, jackwagon and 274 more... -
Unsavory characters
absconder, aretaloger, arriviste, avaunter, bamboozler, bandit, banger, barbarian, barmecide, barrator, beldam, blatherskite and 190 more...
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scoundrels and bastards
already several of these lists, but I wanted my own
varlet, scoundrel, ne'er-do-well, cad, thug, churl, boor, hooligan, bastard, slubberdegullion, dastard, tosspot and 85 more...
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Goatboy's list
Goatboy's Word Emporium
juggernaut, abhor, discombobulate, fankle, oose, orchid, schadenfreude, doppleganger, garibaldi, coquette, arabesque, meme and 19 more...
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people (bad)
nouns for bad people / words that describe bad people.
goto the good people list
( people, character, descriptor, noun )culprit, perpetrator, tormentor, swindler, bamboozler, nincompoop, thief, liar, back stabber, vandal, burglar, cheater and 85 more...
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ecbrenner's list
flatline, luddism, apocalipstick, muttsucker, leviathan of fore..., flint, coryphaeus, donnybrook, bandwidth, bagpipe the mizen, cheesed off, asterism and 525 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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kimo2000's Words
pakalolo, miliated, voodoo, vindaloo, hacienda, acquiesce, addlepated, olio, akimbo, apropos, oogenesis, arugula and 181 more...
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sillygoose's Words
nefarious, waffle, dilettante, love, obstreperous, suggestible, fodder, plucky, trajectory, eclectic, juggernaut, demure and 115 more...
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madmelanie's Words
monkey, folderol, snark, snarky, flibbertigibbet, faith, asshat, pirouette, avuncular, exegesis, memento mori, verisimilitude and 379 more...
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elizacole's Words
isomorphic, endemic, tmesis, fillip, antedate, avoirdupois, jeremiad, hypnagogic, antediluvian, fuck, reification, raconteur and 251 more...
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Alaska
Names of places, animals, plants, people, etc. found in and around Alaska.
grizzly, coho, roe, koyukon, chinook, sockeye, king salmon, chum, dog salmon, kipper, kelt, baggit and 221 more...
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stpeter's Words
abase, abasement, abashed, abdicate, aberrant, abeyance, abhor, abhorrent, abide, abject, ablation, abnegation and 3536 more...
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Words of Whimsy & Grace
abecedary, addendum, ampersand, anachronism, avuncular, balderdash, barnacle, befuddle, behemoth, bejeebers, blabbermouth, blatherskite and 465 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for hooligan.
goatboy The term "hooligan" has a disputed derivation, but it is generally accepted to have begun to appear in London police reports in 1898 in relation to violent street gangs.
Writer, Clarence Rook (1862-1915) wrote a book entitled The Hooligan Nights which was about a young criminal’s story told in his own words.
In this account, Rook wrote: “There was but a few years ago, a man called Patrick Hooligan, who walked to and fro among his fellow men, robbing and occasionally bashing them.�? Jan 24, 2008
reesetee Haha! Oily birds aren't quite as funny, of course. :-( Jan 17, 2008
asativum Well, like they say: The oily fish gets the worm. Jan 17, 2008
reesetee Wow. That must be one oily fish. Jan 16, 2008
asativum Also a colloquial name for the mighty eulachon, or Thaleichthys pacificus, an anadromous smelt of the north Pacific. It is also called the candlefish because, as Wikipedia tells us, "if caught, dried, and strung on a wick, it can be burned as a candle."
I can only imagine how that was discovered. Jan 16, 2008