BOOBY

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does booby mean? 

• BOOBY (noun)
  The noun BOOBY has 2 senses:

1. an ignorant or foolish person

2. small tropical gannet having a bright bill or bright feet or both

  Familiarity information: BOOBY used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• BOOBY (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

An ignorant or foolish person

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

boob; booby; dope; dumbbell; dummy; pinhead

Hypernyms ("booby" is a kind of...):

simple; simpleton (a person lacking intelligence or common sense)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Small tropical gannet having a bright bill or bright feet or both

Classified under:

Nouns denoting animals

Hypernyms ("booby" is a kind of...):

gannet (large heavily built seabird with a long stout bill noted for its plunging dives for fish)

Holonyms ("booby" is a member of...):

genus Sula; Sula (type genus of the Sulidae)

 Context examples 

But all the time he was oppressed by the consciousness that this carefulness of diction was making a booby of him, preventing him from expressing what he had in him.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

You are like a frigate bird swooping down upon the boobies and robbing them of the fish they have caught.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)