yobbo

IPA/jɒb/
KK[jˈɑbˌo]IPA/jɑːb/

yobbo — noun

  • yobbosingular
  • yobbosplural

1. a young male who is deliberately rude, violent, or offensive in public places

1.nounC1
Definition

a young male who is deliberately rude, violent, or offensive in public places

Example

A group of yobbos were shouting insults at passengers outside the train station.

plural form: yobbos

The neighbours complained about the yobbos who smashed bottles in the park last night.

typical context: public disturbance

Common collocations
  • young yobbo
  • drunken yobbo
  • yobbo behaviour
Synonyms
  • lout

    less aggressive than yobbo; describes someone clumsy or ill-mannered rather than violent

  • hooligan

    stronger emphasis on violence and group behaviour, especially in football crowds

  • thug

    more serious, implying criminal violence regardless of age

  • hoodlum

    American English equivalent, suggests gang-related behaviour

Grammar Patterns

a yobbo

yobbos (plural)

Usage Note

Chiefly British and Australian informal slang. Can be considered offensive when directed at a specific person. The shorter form 'yob' is also common.

Common Mistakes

He is a yobbo person.
He is a yobbo.
yobbo is a noun, not an adjective. Use 'yobbish' for the adjective form.

Word family

  • yob
    nounC1
  • yobbish
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

All four words describe someone who behaves badly or violently, but they differ in register, severity, and regional use. 'Yobbo' is informal British slang (backslang for 'boy') and usually implies a young man being loudly rude or causing minor public disturbances. 'Lout' covers similar ground but suggests clumsiness and bad manners more than deliberate violence ('a drunken lout at the pub'). 'Hooligan' implies group violence and is strongly linked to football culture ('football hooligans'). 'Thug' carries the most serious weight — it suggests a hardened criminal who uses violence for gain. 'Hoodlum' is the closest American equivalent to yobbo but feels slightly dated. Example: 'A group of yobbos shouted abuse, but they weren't thugs — they were just drunk and showing off.'

lout ↗hooligan ↗thug ↗hoodlum ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • yobbo behaviour
  • yobbo culture

Phrases

  • act like a yobbo
  • a bunch of yobbos

Etymology

English (backslang)English

Yobbo comes from British backslang, where 'yob' is 'boy' spelled backwards — an old London slang trick used to create a secret in-group vocabulary. The '-o' ending adds a casual, dismissive tone, common in Australian and British informal speech (compare 'garbo' for garbage collector). The word first appeared in the mid-20th century and became widely known through UK tabloid headlines about teenage antisocial behaviour.

First known use

1922

1922, in the meaning defined at sense 1