palooka

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palooka

/pəˈluːkə/

Where it comes from

Used in the US since the 1920s, originally primarily of boxers. Popularized by Jack Conway of Variety, who also popularized baloney and bimbo. Further popularized by Ham Fisher in his comic strip Joe Palooka about a boxer (published in newspapers since 1930, particularly popular in 1940s).

noun palookas

US, slang A stupid, oafish or clumsy person. What’s more, Friends offers someone for everyone: a tall, dorky, insecure guy (David Schwimmer); a ditzy, guitar-strumming blonde (Lisa Kudrow); a handsome, jean-clad palooka (Matt LeBlanc); a sarcastic, 9-to-5-ing funnyman ([Matthew] Perry); a dark-haired, blue-eyed Veronica (Courteney Cox); and a
US Someone incompetent or untalented. But [Jack] Dempsey against some palooka who had been press agented into greatness and into the form of a Dempsey menace — that would pack any outdoor arena.

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MLA

"palooka." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/palooka. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

palooka. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/palooka

Chicago

"palooka." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/palooka.

BibTeX

@misc{palooka_2026,
  title = {palooka},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/palooka},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}