rookie

[roo k-ee] /ˈrʊk i/
noun
1.
an athlete playing his or her first season as a member of a professional sports team:
The rookie replaced the injured regular at first base.
2.
a raw recruit, as in the army or on a police force.
3.
a novice; tyro.
Origin
1890-95; alteration of recruit; see -y2
Examples from the web for rookie
  • One was a rookie still fired up over one of his first arrests.
  • The question isn't who gets on the field as a rookie or even how much, but who's still there several seasons later.
  • rookie controllers, antiquated equipment, and federal mismanagement combine to produce inefficiency and danger.
  • Their owners are less experienced in business, so may make rookie mistakes.
  • The job went to a rookie because no one else had the courage for it.
  • If there's anything we're learning about the rookie, it's that he doesn't panic when he misses.
British Dictionary definitions for rookie

rookie

/ˈrʊkɪ/
noun
1.
(informal) an inexperienced person or newcomer, esp a raw recruit in the army
Word Origin
C20: changed from recruit
Word Origin and History for rookie
n.

"raw recruit," 1892 in that spelling, popularized by Kipling's "Barrack-Room Ballads," of uncertain origin, perhaps from recruit, influenced by rook (n.1) in its secondary sense, suggesting "easy to cheat." Barrère ["A Dictionary of Slang, Jargon & Cant," 1890] has "Rookey (army), a recruit; from the black coat some of them wear," so perhaps directly from rook (n.1). Came into general use in American English during the Spanish-American War.

The rapid growth of a word from a single seed transplanted in a congenial soil is one of the curiosities of literature. Take a single instance. A few weeks ago there was not one American soldier in a thousand who knew there was such a word as "rookey." To-day there are few soldiers and ex-soldiers who have not substituted it for "raw recruit." ["The Midland Monthly," December 1898]

Slang definitions & phrases for rookie

rookie

modifier

: The shooting of ''rookie'' patrolman James A Broderick

noun

A newcomer; recruit; tyro: the rookies and substitutes (1892+)

[probably fr shortening of recruit; perhaps fr the black, rook-colored coat worn by some British army recruits]