clodhopper
UK/ˈklɒdˌhɒpə//ˈklɑdˌhɑpɚ/
clodhopper noun: a strong shoe for heavy-duty use; a boot.
Noun
clodhopper (plural clodhoppers)
- A strong shoe for heavy-duty use; a boot.
- ...who had got on his "hill shoes," as he calls a pair of clodhoppers as thick as a ploughman's, and stuck round with nails.1830, Margaret Hundy, “First Epistle from Mrs. Margaret Hundy”, in The Lady's Magazine
- Any shoe construed (within a particular context) as ungainly.
- We had to walk slow because of his wooden clod-hoppers, and that was the way I wanted it now1959, Claude F. Koch, A Matter of Family
- United States Navy ankle length work shoes, distinct from dress shoes or combat boots.
- Smiling Jim Mead of New York tries on his GI clodhopper boots. He decided to return them "because we couldn't make any altitude with those aboard."1943 August 16, “Senators go global: Five will fly to all fronts”, in LIFE Magazine
- […] now a book is no greater rarity than bacon and greens in Virginia; and the clodhopper of this country returns from his daily labours to a book […]1719, René Le Bossu, translated by Pierre François le Courayer and Peter Anthony Motteux, Monsieur Bossu's Treatise of the Epick Poem, J. Knapton and H. Clements, →OCLC, page 332
- To refer to generally big feet or the foot of a clumsy person.
- A clumsy or foolish person.
- All guess-work exploits shrivel up a good yard, or sometimes two, when brought to the measure, and the champion of the county dwindles into a clumsy clod-hopper.1826 August, P.H. Clias, “Gymnastics”, in Blackwood's Magazine, volume XX, number CXV
- Synonyms:
- oaf
- A peasant or yokel (countryperson).
- Near-synonyms: bumpkin, hick
- Wheatear: any of various passerine birds.
- ...and as the birds then begin to resort to the downs and open commons, the "fallow-chat," "wheat-ear," and "clodhopper," are not unappropriate names.1834, Robert Mudie, The Feathered Tribes of the British Islands, volume 1
clodhopper meaning in Tamil
clodhopper in Tamil
- மண்ணன்
Synonyms of clodhopper
Forms of clodhopper
| plural | clodhoppers |
|---|
Origin of clodhopper
Compound of clod + hopper (agentive form of the verb hop). Perhaps affected by analogy with grasshopper. The term originated in the 17th century as a derogatory name for a farm laborer—someone who "hopped" (stomped) over "clods" of earth; attested in the sense of "peasant" since the seventeenth century; the extended sense of "boot" or "shoe" dates from the nineteenth century. While originating in Britain, the term survives most strongly in Southern/Appalachian speech.
Questions about clodhopper
- What does clodhopper mean?
- Clodhopper means a strong shoe for heavy-duty use; a boot.
- What is clodhopper in Tamil?
- Clodhopper in Tamil is மண்ணன். See Clodhopper meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is clodhopper?
- Clodhopper is a noun.
- How do you pronounce clodhopper?
- Clodhopper is pronounced /ˈklɑdˌhɑpɚ/ (US).
- What is the plural of clodhopper?
- The plural of clodhopper is clodhoppers.
Words near clodhopper in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: clodhopper (page history and authors); clodhopper (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-clodhopper.ogg.
Cite this entry: “clodhopper.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/clodhopper. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.