Tudor & Stuart · insult · noun
Hobbledehoy
HOB-ul-dee-hoy /ˈhɒbəldiˌhɔɪ/pronunciation given by a dictionary
First recorded1540
A clumsy, gawky youth at the awkward age between boy and man.
Where it was first recorded
John Palsgrave's translation of Acolastus, 1540 ('theyr hobledehoye tyme'), per the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster; Etymonline gives the 1530s.
Also spelled: hobbadehoy, hobbard de hoy, hobbetyhoy, hobble-de-hoy, hoberdyhoy
In its own time
The first seuen yeers bring vp as a childe, The next to learning, for waxing too wilde. The next keepe vnder sir hobbard de hoy, The next a man no longer a boy.
Today
Modern exampleAt fifteen he was a proper hobbledehoy, all elbows and knees, forever knocking over the milk.
Fine to use, affectionately, for a gangly teenager.
Questions
What does hobbledehoy mean?
A clumsy, gawky youth at the awkward age between boy and man.
When was hobbledehoy first used?
It is first recorded 1540 — John Palsgrave's translation of Acolastus, 1540 ('theyr hobledehoye tyme'), per the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary and Merriam-Webster; Etymonline gives the 1530s.
Can you still use hobbledehoy today?
Fine to use, affectionately, for a gangly teenager.
Sources
- hobbledehoy — Online Etymology Dictionary
- hobbledehoy — Merriam-Webster
- hobbledehoy — Dictionary.com (Random House Unabridged)
- Hobbledehoy — Farmer & Henley, Slang and Its Analogues, via World English Historical Dictionary
- hobbledehoy — Wiktionary
Checked 2026-09-30 · verdict: attested — found in the dictionaries and texts listed above