Yooper

noun

Yoop·er | \ˈyü-pər

\

Definition of Yooper

: a native or resident of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan —used as a nickname

Did You Know?

The word Yooper comes from the common nickname of Michigan's Upper Peninsula-the "U.P."-and the etymology requires the same follow-up question that a challenging joke does: "Get it?" If you're not there yet, try saying them both out loud: Yooper, U.P. Yoopers have been saying both out loud now for about 40 years, but it's only in recent years that those beyond the U.P. and its geographical neighbors have begun to encounter Yooper in use. Yoopers refer to people who live in the Lower Peninsula as "trolls" (they live "under" the Mackinac Bridge, after all), but that nickname is still at this point too regional for entry in our dictionaries.

Keep scrolling for more

Learn More about Yooper

Listen to Our Podcast about Yooper

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Dictionary Entries near Yooper

Statistics for Yooper

Look-up Popularity

Time Traveler for Yooper

The first known use of Yooper was in 1975

See more words from the same year

WORD OF THE DAY

rebuff

to reject or criticize sharply

Test Your Vocabulary

Words from Greek and Roman Mythology Quiz

Boreal comes from the name of the ancient Greek god of which wind?

Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?

TAKE THE QUIZ

SCRABBLE® Sprint

Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.

TAKE THE QUIZ

Words at Play

Ask the Editors

Word Games