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hoon

noun
/huːn/UK/hun/US

Etymology

Uncertain; used initially as a general term of abuse. It first appeared in print in Capricornia (1938) by Australian writer Xavier Herbert (1901–1984); in a 1941 letter Herbert stated he had heard the term in his youth.

  1. derived from *honi✻ — “despicable”
  2. derived from hoon — “dangerous”

Definitions

  1. A worthless person

    A worthless person; a hooligan or lout.

    • 'You flash hoon,' he went on, 'Kiddin' you're white, eh?[…].'

  2. A pimp.

    • When the girls were sick, the hoons would beat the shit out of them and put them back on the street.

  3. A person who drives excessively quickly, loudly or irresponsibly

    A person who drives excessively quickly, loudly or irresponsibly; a street drag racer often driving heavily customized cars.

    • The hoons piled out of the wreck brimming with righteous road rage, and were settling to the task of beating the shit out of Wozza, Mutton and the hapless wheelman when they discovered the plastic bag.
  4. ›+ 7 more definitions

    1. An attempt or go at something.

      • The stars of Happytime Murders give Kiwi slang a hoon
      • Havin' a hoon on TVNZ's new OnDemand platform

    2. To drive excessively quickly, loudly or irresponsibly.

      • […] you've hooned off – it's fair to say hooned off – at quite a high speed.

    3. To make a hooting or howling sound.

      • Zeven let loose a hooning howl of approval.

    4. A unit of weight (about 0.378125 of a gram, or 0.0133 of an ounce) used to measure opium…

      A unit of weight (about 0.378125 of a gram, or 0.0133 of an ounce) used to measure opium in British-controlled parts of Asia; a candareen.

    5. A pagoda, a type of gold coin.

    6. A surname from Dutch.

    7. A civil parish (without a council) in South Derbyshire district, Derbyshire, England (OS…

      A civil parish (without a council) in South Derbyshire district, Derbyshire, England (OS grid ref SK2231).

The neighborhood

Derived

hoonish

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for hoon. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA