Yob

//jɑb// noun, phrase, slang

noun, phrase, slang ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A boy. obsolete

    "And you bet that each gal, not to mention each yob, Didn't care how much ooftish it cost 'em per nob."

  2. 2
    Initialism of year of birth. abbreviation, alt-of, initialism
  3. 3
    a cruel and brutal fellow wordnet
  4. 4
    A person who engages in antisocial behaviour or drunkenness. Commonwealth, Ireland, UK, derogatory, slang

    "Yes, it's holiday time again for British yobs – and the rest of us can flee to those parts of Abroad which the louts ignore, or just cringe in shame at home."

Phrase
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of YOB (year of birth) alt-of, alternative

Synonyms

All synonyms
hooliganbullyroughneckrowdyruffianyobbo

Example

More examples

"Some yob kicked a ball at my head."

Etymology

Backslang for boy. The second sense was likely influenced by hobnob and/or yokel.

More for "yob"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.