different between hoodlum vs rowdy

English

Etymology

First attested in a December 1866 Daily Alta California article, which mentions "the 'Hoodlum Gang' of juvenile thieves". Several possible origins have been proposed. It may derive from a Germanic word like Swabian hudelum (“disorderly”) or Bavarian Haderlump (“ragamuffin”).

Herbert Asbury's book The Barbary Coast: An Informal History of the San Francisco Underworld (1933, A. A. Knopf, New York) says the word originated in San Francisco from a particular street gang's call to unemployed Irishmen to "huddle 'em" (to beat up Chinese migrants), after which San Francisco newspapers took to calling street gangs "hoodlums".

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?hu?dl?m/, /?h?dl?m/
• Hyphenation: hood?lum

Noun

hoodlum (plural hoodlums)

1. A gangster; a hired thug.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:criminal
2. A rough or violent youth.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:troublemaker

Usage notes

• A short form, "hood," also exists.
• A nonstandard, jocular plural hoodla (treating the word like a Latin noun) also exists.
• The behavior of a hoodlum may be referred to as "hoodlumism."

Translations

References

Further reading

• “Frederick Bee History Project”, in (Please provide the title of the work)?^[2], accessed October 4, 2014

English

Alternative forms

• rowdie

Etymology

Possibly from row (“noisy argument”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /??a?di/
• Rhymes: -a?di

Adjective

rowdy (comparative rowdier, superlative rowdiest)

1. Loud and disorderly; riotous; boisterous.

Synonyms

• unruly
• disorderly

Derived terms

• rowdily
• rowdiness
• rowdyism

Translations

Noun

rowdy (plural rowdies)

1. A boisterous person; a brawler.

Synonyms

• brawler
• ruffian

Translations

Descendants

• ? German: Rowdy

Anagrams

• dowry, wordy