yahoo

1 of 2

noun

ya·hoo ˈyā-(ˌ)hü ˈyä-

plural yahoos

capitalized : a member of a race of brutes in Swift's Gulliver's Travels who have the form and all the vices of humans

: a boorish, crass, or stupid person

yahooism

ˈyā-(ˌ)hü-ˌi-zəm

ˈyä-

noun

yahoo

2 of 2

interjection

ya·hoo yä-ˈhü

: 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

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Noun

Not just yahoos wearing horns and taking selfies in the Capitol building, but putting actual brigades in the field, with artillery. —arkansasonline.com, 12 Feb. 2025