"tenderfoot" meaning in English

See tenderfoot in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

Forms: tenderfeet [plural], tenderfoots [plural]
Etymology: From tender + foot. Refers to the delicate feet of newcomers to ranching or mining areas. First attested 1866. Etymology templates: {{compound|en|tender|foot}} tender + foot Head templates: {{en-noun|tenderfeet|s}} tenderfoot (plural tenderfeet or tenderfoots)
  1. (chiefly Canada, US) An inexperienced person; a novice. Tags: Canada, US Synonyms: beginner, newcomer Translations (newcomer in the old US frontier days): arkajalka (Finnish), pied-tendre (French) Translations (novice): новобранец (novobranec) [masculine] (Bulgarian), vasta-alkaja (Finnish), noviisi (Finnish), mopo (Finnish), keltanokka (Finnish), pied-tendre [masculine] (French), blanc-bec [masculine] (French), novizio (Italian)
    Sense id: en-tenderfoot-en-noun-wms4J6gH Categories (other): American English, Canadian English Disambiguation of 'newcomer in the old US frontier days': 59 34 8 Disambiguation of 'novice': 82 8 10
  2. (historical) A newcomer or arriviste to the region in the American frontier (Old West and Wild West). Tags: historical Categories (topical): Scouting
    Sense id: en-tenderfoot-en-noun-Vnyz6ipp Disambiguation of Scouting: 6 49 45 Categories (other): English bahuvrihi compounds, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Bulgarian translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with French translations, Terms with Italian translations Disambiguation of English bahuvrihi compounds: 19 73 8 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 11 83 6 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 2 95 3 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 5 89 6 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 3 93 4 Disambiguation of Terms with Bulgarian translations: 17 65 18 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 14 72 14 Disambiguation of Terms with French translations: 5 87 8 Disambiguation of Terms with Italian translations: 3 91 5
  3. (dated) A Boy Scout of the lowest rank. Tags: dated Categories (topical): People, Scouting Translations (lowest rank of Boy Scout): kolkkapoika (Finnish)
    Sense id: en-tenderfoot-en-noun-808q8V-K Disambiguation of People: 27 21 52 Disambiguation of Scouting: 6 49 45 Disambiguation of 'lowest rank of Boy Scout': 7 6 86
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Derived forms: tenderfootish Related terms: tenderfooted, cheechako, greenhorn, newbie

Inflected forms

{
  "derived": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "tenderfootish"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tender",
        "3": "foot"
      },
      "expansion": "tender + foot",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From tender + foot. Refers to the delicate feet of newcomers to ranching or mining areas. First attested 1866.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tenderfeet",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tenderfoots",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "tenderfeet",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "tenderfoot (plural tenderfeet or tenderfoots)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "tenderfooted"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "cheechako"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "greenhorn"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "newbie"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "American English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Canadian English",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An inexperienced person; a novice."
      ],
      "id": "en-tenderfoot-en-noun-wms4J6gH",
      "links": [
        [
          "Canada",
          "Canada"
        ],
        [
          "US",
          "American English"
        ],
        [
          "inexperienced",
          "inexperienced"
        ],
        [
          "novice",
          "novice"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly Canada, US) An inexperienced person; a novice."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "beginner"
        },
        {
          "word": "newcomer"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "82 8 10",
          "code": "bg",
          "lang": "Bulgarian",
          "roman": "novobranec",
          "sense": "novice",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "новобранец"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 8 10",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "novice",
          "word": "vasta-alkaja"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 8 10",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "novice",
          "word": "noviisi"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 8 10",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "novice",
          "word": "mopo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 8 10",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "novice",
          "word": "keltanokka"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 8 10",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "novice",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "pied-tendre"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 8 10",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "novice",
          "tags": [
            "masculine"
          ],
          "word": "blanc-bec"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "82 8 10",
          "code": "it",
          "lang": "Italian",
          "sense": "novice",
          "word": "novizio"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "59 34 8",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "newcomer in the old US frontier days",
          "word": "arkajalka"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "59 34 8",
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "newcomer in the old US frontier days",
          "word": "pied-tendre"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "19 73 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English bahuvrihi compounds",
          "parents": [
            "Bahuvrihi compounds",
            "Compound terms",
            "Exocentric compounds",
            "Terms by etymology"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "11 83 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "2 95 3",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 89 6",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 93 4",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "17 65 18",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "14 72 14",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "5 87 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with French translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "3 91 5",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Italian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 49 45",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Scouting",
          "orig": "en:Scouting",
          "parents": [
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1914, Elinore Pruitt Stewart, Letters of a Woman Homesteader, Houghton Mifflin Company, page 173:",
          "text": "Watson had risen so hurriedly that he had not been careful about his “tarp” and water had run into his bed. But that wouldn’t disconcert anybody but a tenderfoot.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991 August 31, Rudy Grillo, “Color Me Gay”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 7, page 10:",
          "text": "\"Lavender Cowboy,\" a pseudo folk song, is a tale of futility. It tells of a tenderfoot \"with only two hairs on his chest,\" whose heroic attempt to prove his manhood results in his death.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A newcomer or arriviste to the region in the American frontier (Old West and Wild West)."
      ],
      "id": "en-tenderfoot-en-noun-Vnyz6ipp",
      "links": [
        [
          "newcomer",
          "newcomer"
        ],
        [
          "arriviste",
          "arriviste"
        ],
        [
          "Old West",
          "Old West"
        ],
        [
          "Wild West",
          "Wild West"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A newcomer or arriviste to the region in the American frontier (Old West and Wild West)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "27 21 52",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "People",
          "orig": "en:People",
          "parents": [
            "Human",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "6 49 45",
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Scouting",
          "orig": "en:Scouting",
          "parents": [
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A Boy Scout of the lowest rank."
      ],
      "id": "en-tenderfoot-en-noun-808q8V-K",
      "links": [
        [
          "Boy Scout",
          "Boy Scout"
        ],
        [
          "rank",
          "rank"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dated) A Boy Scout of the lowest rank."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "7 6 86",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "lowest rank of Boy Scout",
          "word": "kolkkapoika"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "tenderfoot"
  ],
  "word": "tenderfoot"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English adjective-noun compound nouns",
    "English bahuvrihi compounds",
    "English compound terms",
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English nouns with irregular plurals",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Terms with Bulgarian translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with French translations",
    "Terms with Italian translations",
    "en:People",
    "en:Scouting"
  ],
  "derived": [
    {
      "word": "tenderfootish"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "tender",
        "3": "foot"
      },
      "expansion": "tender + foot",
      "name": "compound"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "From tender + foot. Refers to the delicate feet of newcomers to ranching or mining areas. First attested 1866.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "tenderfeet",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "tenderfoots",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "tenderfeet",
        "2": "s"
      },
      "expansion": "tenderfoot (plural tenderfeet or tenderfoots)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "tenderfooted"
    },
    {
      "word": "cheechako"
    },
    {
      "word": "greenhorn"
    },
    {
      "word": "newbie"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "American English",
        "Canadian English"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "An inexperienced person; a novice."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Canada",
          "Canada"
        ],
        [
          "US",
          "American English"
        ],
        [
          "inexperienced",
          "inexperienced"
        ],
        [
          "novice",
          "novice"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(chiefly Canada, US) An inexperienced person; a novice."
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "beginner"
        },
        {
          "word": "newcomer"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "Canada",
        "US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with historical senses",
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1914, Elinore Pruitt Stewart, Letters of a Woman Homesteader, Houghton Mifflin Company, page 173:",
          "text": "Watson had risen so hurriedly that he had not been careful about his “tarp” and water had run into his bed. But that wouldn’t disconcert anybody but a tenderfoot.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1991 August 31, Rudy Grillo, “Color Me Gay”, in Gay Community News, volume 19, number 7, page 10:",
          "text": "\"Lavender Cowboy,\" a pseudo folk song, is a tale of futility. It tells of a tenderfoot \"with only two hairs on his chest,\" whose heroic attempt to prove his manhood results in his death.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A newcomer or arriviste to the region in the American frontier (Old West and Wild West)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "newcomer",
          "newcomer"
        ],
        [
          "arriviste",
          "arriviste"
        ],
        [
          "Old West",
          "Old West"
        ],
        [
          "Wild West",
          "Wild West"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(historical) A newcomer or arriviste to the region in the American frontier (Old West and Wild West)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "historical"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dated terms"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A Boy Scout of the lowest rank."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "Boy Scout",
          "Boy Scout"
        ],
        [
          "rank",
          "rank"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(dated) A Boy Scout of the lowest rank."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dated"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "bg",
      "lang": "Bulgarian",
      "roman": "novobranec",
      "sense": "novice",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "новобранец"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "novice",
      "word": "vasta-alkaja"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "novice",
      "word": "noviisi"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "novice",
      "word": "mopo"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "novice",
      "word": "keltanokka"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "novice",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "pied-tendre"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "novice",
      "tags": [
        "masculine"
      ],
      "word": "blanc-bec"
    },
    {
      "code": "it",
      "lang": "Italian",
      "sense": "novice",
      "word": "novizio"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "newcomer in the old US frontier days",
      "word": "arkajalka"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "newcomer in the old US frontier days",
      "word": "pied-tendre"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "lowest rank of Boy Scout",
      "word": "kolkkapoika"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "tenderfoot"
  ],
  "word": "tenderfoot"
}

Download raw JSONL data for tenderfoot meaning in English (3.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.