rookie

Meanings

Plural: rookies

Noun

an awkward and inexperienced youth
An inexperienced recruit, especially in the police or armed forces.
A novice.
An athlete either new to the sport or to a team or in his/her first year of professional competition, especially said of baseball, basketball, hockey and American football players.
A type of firecracker, used by farmers to scare rooks.

Adj

Non-professional; amateur

Verb

To be a rookie; to go through one's inexperienced learning period in a job, team, or organization.
To haze one or more rookies as an initiation ritual.

Origin / Etymology

Thought to be an alteration of recruit + -ie, or from rook (“a cheat”) + -ie. Another possible origin is Dutch broekie (short for broekvent (“a boy still in short trousers”)), a common term for a shipmate. Also suggested is Irish rúca (“an inexperienced person”).

Synonyms

beginner, cub, greenhorn, newbie, noob, novice, tyro

Scrabble Score: 10

rookie is a valid Scrabble (US) TWL word
rookie is a valid Scrabble Word in Merriam-Webster MW Dictionary
rookie is a valid Scrabble Word in International Collins CSW Dictionary

Words With Friends Score: 10

rookie is a valid Words With Friends word