Larrikinism
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 The behaviour of larrikins (hooligans); impertinent and disrespectful behaviour. Australia, New-Zealand, uncountable
"I would have thrashed him well at the start but for the letters I constantly received from home warning me against giving offence to the parents, and knew that to set my foot on the children's larrakinism would require measures that would gain their mother's ill-will at once."
- 2 Behaviour that is rebellious against and contemptuous of authority and convention. Australia, uncountable
"Neither Menzies nor Fraser made any attempt to wield the imagery of the legend, and Gorton's larrikinism made him unfit to hold high office in the eyes of Liberal Party powerbrokers."
Example
More examples"I would have thrashed him well at the start but for the letters I constantly received from home warning me against giving offence to the parents, and knew that to set my foot on the children's larrakinism would require measures that would gain their mother's ill-will at once."
Etymology
From larrikin + -ism.
More for "larrikinism"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.