hoyden

or hoi·den

[ hoid-n ]

noun

1. a boisterous, bold, and carefree girl; a tomboy.

adjective

1. boisterous; rude.

hoyden

/ ˈhɔɪdən /

noun

1. a wild boisterous girl; tomboy

Derived Forms

• ˈhoydenishness, noun
• ˈhoydenish, adjective

Other Words From

• hoyden·ish adjective
• hoyden·ism noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoyden¹

1585–95; perhaps < Middle Dutch heyden boor, heathen

Word History and Origins

Origin of hoyden¹

C16: perhaps from Middle Dutch heidijn heathen

Example Sentences

Belden described her as looking like “a charming hoyden.”

From Washington Post

She was still a hoyden girl of fourteen in spite of her womanly status.

From Literature

Page in his novel “Lolita” on which Vladimir Nabokov referred to “Noon”: “. . . she wanted to know if the guy noon-napping on Doris Lee’s hay was the father of the pseudo-voluptuous hoyden in the foreground.”

From Washington Post

Ekaterina Kondaurova was aggressively glamorous, like Marlene Dietrich enjoying herself in a villainess role; Anastasia Petushkova, an even more dominating hoyden, was like Carol Burnett.

From New York Times

His success inspired a subgenre of Southern-gothic pulp, with titles like “Swamp Hoyden,” by Jack Woodford and John B. Thompson, and “The Sin Shouter of Cabin Road,” by John Faulkner.

From The New Yorker