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hooligan

UK/ˈhuː.lɪ.ɡən/US/ˈhuː.lɪ.ɡən/
nounB2Very rare — outside the 30,000 commonest English words, so you will meet it in writing rather than in speechneutral

Other forms: hooligans

A hooligan is a young person who behaves noisily and violently in public. Damage, fighting, and no purpose beyond it.

Britain attached the word firmly to football in the 1970s and 1980s, and football hooliganism became an international export the country would rather not have made. The word appeared in London in the 1890s and its origin is disputed, with a rowdy Irish family name the leading theory. The Russian word khuligan came from English and is now entirely at home there.

Amarhgil · Attribution

Definitions of hooligan

  1. 1nounhooliganA young person who behaves violently and destructively in public.B2

    “A handful of hooligans spoiled the whole afternoon.”

Where it comes from

  1. an unknown language

    Houlihan

  2. English, today

    hooligan

From an unknown language Houlihan. Probably a variant of the Irish - surname Houlihan, 1890s.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA

Practised in A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 32 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

hooligan in the wild

  • A hooligan is a person who engages in illicit reckless behaviors and is a public nuisance.

    Hooliganism

  • The Cardiff City Soul Crew (commonly known as the Soul Crew) is a football hooligan firm, associated with the Welsh football club Cardiff City.

    Soul Crew

  • In extreme cases, hooligans, police and bystanders have been killed, and riot police have intervened.

    Football hooliganism

  • Hooligans who have the time and money may follow national teams to away matches and engage in hooligan behaviour against the hooligans of the home team.

    Football hooliganism

  • The Chelsea Headhunters are a notorious English football hooligan firm linked to the London football club Chelsea.

    Chelsea Headhunters

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From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. These sentences were written by other people about their own subjects; they are here to show the word at work, not as anybody’s opinion.