yahoo

1 of 2

noun

plural yahoos
1
capitalized : a member of a race of brutes in Swift's Gulliver's Travels who have the form and all the vices of humans
2
: a boorish, crass, or stupid person
yahooism noun

yahoo

2 of 2

interjection

ya·​hoo yä-ˈhü How to pronounce yahoo (audio)
: yippee
used to express exuberant delight or triumph
… her usually stoic grandfather shouted: "Yahoo! Way to go!"Richard Sandomir
"I'll be out there surfing—Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday," he [actor/surfer Bruce Brown] says. "It makes you feel like a kid. You catch a good wave, and it makes you want to yell, 'Yahoo!'"Mark Goodman

Did you know?

We know exactly how old yahoo is because its debut in print also marked its entrance into the English language as a whole. Yahoo began life as a made-up word invented by Jonathan Swift in his book Gulliver's Travels, which was published in 1726. On his fourth and final voyage of the book, Lemuel Gulliver is marooned on an island that is the home of the Houyhnhnms, a species of intelligent, civilized horses who share their land with and rule over the Yahoos, a species of brutes with the form and vices of humans. These Yahoos represented Swift's view of humankind at its lowest. It is not surprising, then, that yahoo came to be applied to any actual human who was particularly unpleasant or unintelligent.

Examples of yahoo in a Sentence

Noun Some yahoo cut me off in traffic. A bunch of yahoos were making noise outside. Interjection you mean we were accepted for the reality show? yahoo!
Recent Examples on the Web
These examples are automatically compiled from online sources to illustrate current usage. Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Noun
Some work for the media, and others are just flat-out yahoos with a cellphone connection and a full tank of gas. Matthew Cappucci, Washington Post, 21 July 2024 Once these yahoos were kicked out of the building, Congress calmly affirmed Mr. Biden’s election. Tom McClintock, WSJ, 12 Jan. 2024 Is there something more sinister in the making or just luck of the draw by what many suspect are ultra-right-wing yahoos who hide in the shadows? Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 6 Sep. 2023 Would a truly great actor have to succumb to kick-ass yahoo entertainments? Armond White, National Review, 1 Sep. 2023 On the plus side, this augured fewer yahoos in powerboats to contend with as the Hudson narrowed, beyond Haverstraw. Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, 3 July 2023 The increasing number of yahoos who treat expressway driving like a real-life video game, tailgating, speeding, weaving in and out and periodically firing guns. Bill McGraw, Detroit Free Press, 26 Mar. 2023 And the episode demonstrates the downsides of priced-to-move legal advice in the opening scene, which follows two meth-addled yahoos who celebrate Saul’s introductory bargain rate by launching into a multiday bender. David Segal, New York Times, 24 Feb. 2020 Saul came to function as an exterminator of the kind of refined sensibility that separated the sophisticates from the yahoos in haut-bourgeois twentieth-century America. Peter Schjeldahl, The New Yorker, 10 Feb. 2020

Word History

Etymology

Interjection

perhaps alteration of yo-ho, interjection used to attract attention, from yo + ho

First Known Use

Noun

1726, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Interjection

1921, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of yahoo was in 1726

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Dictionary Entries Near yahoo

Cite this Entry

“Yahoo.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/yahoo. Accessed 9 Nov. 2024.

Kids Definition

yahoo

interjection
ya·​hoo
yä-ˈhü
: yippee

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