tsotsi

UK/ˈtsɒtsi/

tsotsi noun: a hoodlum or street thug, especially one from the townships; a township skollie.

Noun

tsotsi (plural tsotsis)

(South Africa) A hoodlum or street thug, especially one from the townships; a township skollie.
- A gang of tsotsis – hooligans – attacked a group of older men, and when the owner tried to throw them out they ran amok in the place, smashing everything in their way.1979, André Brink, A Dry White Season, Vintage, published 1998, page 39
- Gangsters – known as tsotsis – carrying flick-knives or switchblades were plentiful and prominent [...].1994, Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela, London: Abacus, published 2010, page 88

Mandela, standing up for all the tsotsis out there, said: "Don't dismiss any youngsters who are not behaving according to your wishes."2006 March 17, Cape Times:
[Title:] Pupils shaken as tsotsis strike after exams!2026 June 12, Nhlanhla Khomola, “Pupils shaken as tsotsis strike after exams!”, in Daily Sun, archived from the original on 12 Jun 2026:

plural	tsotsis

Uncertain. Compare Shona tsotsi (“criminal”)

What does tsotsi mean?: Tsotsi means a hoodlum or street thug, especially one from the townships; a township skollie.
How do you use tsotsi in a sentence?: Mandela, standing up for all the tsotsis out there, said: "Don't dismiss any youngsters who are not behaving according to your wishes."
What part of speech is tsotsi?: Tsotsi is a noun.
How do you pronounce tsotsi?: Tsotsi is pronounced /ˈtsɒtsi/ (UK).
What is the plural of tsotsi?: The plural of tsotsi is tsotsis.

Adapted from Wiktionary: tsotsi (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: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “tsotsi.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/tsotsi. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.