rookie

Meaning

Noun

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/her first year of professional competition, especially said of baseball, basketball, hockey and American football players.
4. (British) A type of firecracker, used by farmers to scare rooks.

Adj

Non-professional; amateur

Verb

1. (intransitive) To be a rookie; to go through one's inexperienced learning period in a job, team, or organization.
2. (transitive) To haze one or more rookies as an initiation ritual.

Synonyms

novice

beginner

🔰

recruit

newbie

greenhorn

initiate

conscript

neophyte

cub

green

abecedarian

tyro

amateur

apprentice

chela

fledgeling

inductee

novitiate

recreative

starter

tiro

Translations

bleu

novato

🔰

recluta

Neuling

novato

pivello

Anfänger

esordiente

🔰

novicio

principiante

recruta

blauwe plek

groentje

principiante

🔰

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɹʊki/

Etymology

Thought to be an alteration of recruit + -ie, or from rook (“a cheat”) + -ie. Another possible origin is Dutch broekie (short for broekvent (“a boy still in short trousers”)), a common term for a shipmate. Also suggested is Irish rúca (“an inexperienced person”).