Dictionary

jabroni en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /d͡ʒəˈbɹoʊni/ (General-American)

Etymology

Alteration of earlier gibone (also spelled jiboney, jaboney, etc.), possibly from dialectal Italian giambone (“ham”, also “self-important fool”). As a wrestling term, it was popularized by Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, who claimed to have borrowed it from the Iron Sheik. Prior to its popularization by Johnson, the term had also been used by Scott Hall, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, and others.

Meanings

1. An obnoxious or contemptible person; a crybaby.
   • “I don’t want to be bullied again. I don’t want to feel like I have to stand in the cold again because some jabronis want to blow a three-foot cloud,” Richter says. 2014 October 8, Leah Sottile, “The Right to Vape”, in The Atlantic:
   • Sometimes a person is stuck as a jabroni for life. Geraldo Rivera--there's a guy who no matter how high he grows his hair, how full he grows his moustache, or how dangerous an assignment he goes on as an "investigative reporter," he'll always be a jabroni. 2013 March 27, Michael Ricci, “Semi-Charmed Kind of Word”, in Columbia Spectator:
   • Howard glared at the kid walking towards him. "Now look here, jabroni. These are my trails and that's my tree house you're playing house in, and I don't remember you asking me permission to be here.[…]" 2012 July 10, James Barry, The Sasquatch Chronicles: Attack of the Animizoid, →ISBN:
   • “The hell is this jabroni's deal?” “Clearly job only remnant of old human self Stan remember, because so central to sense of self-worth.” 2026 March 8, Jeff Kauffmann, “Powering Through” (16:44 from the start), in American Dad!, season 22, episode 3, spoken by Jeff Fischer (Jeff Fischer):
2. (slang) A performer whose primary role is to lose according to social standing.
   • A jobber—also known as jabroni, extra, and enhancement talent—is playing the part of getting beat all the time. 2004, Bobby "The Brain" Heenan with Steve Anderson, Chair Shots and Other Obstacles: Winning Life's Wrestling Matches, →ISBN, page 148:
   • Get out of that, uh, jabroni outfit. 1999, Matthew Moore, Lords of the Lockerroom, spoken by Mark Wolff (Mark Wolff), Can-Am Productions:

Forms

Relateds

palooka · tomato can · jiboney

Synonyms

jobber

wikipedia: Hulk Hogan · wikipedia: Steve Austin · wikipedia: Scott Hall · wikipedia: Iron Sheik