yoof

English

Etymology

Respelling of youth to correspond with a nonstandard pronunciation; th-fronting, in particular.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -uːf

Noun

yoof (countable and uncountable, plural yoofs)

1. (British slang, sometimes attributive) youth (young person, young people or the state of being young)
   • 1992, New Musical Express:

     Slash'n'sideburn pop is what you get when Manc yoof grows up angry and facially bristling.

   • 1992, Punch:

     As for the yoof question, yes, there was an attempt to inject a certain spring into Mr Punch's aged step.

   • 1992, The Face:

     And London clubzine Chortler's Inc has featured a cartoon strip with a bumbling yoof TV presenter, again called Nobski.

   • 2025 January 15, James Delingpole, “The day I was heckled for speaking about the rape gangs”, in The Spectator‎^[1]:

     Free Speech was one of those slightly cringey ‘let’s make politics relevant to da yoof’ programmes […]

Derived terms

• yoofspeak

Anagrams

• oofy