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hoyden

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A rude, boisterous girl or woman—used pejoratively in moralizing or satirical portrayals of immodest behavior.

Detailed Definition
“Hoyden” genders unruliness, common in satirical or comedic verse. It contrasts with demure femininity, marking transgression of decorum. The term’s playful sound softens contempt. Poets use it to explore female agency or social constraint, where spiritedness is either celebrated or condemned in narratives of courtship, rebellion, or domestic order.
Example
Example in poetry:
“The hoyden laughed and leapt the fence,” in a lively character sketch; In 18th-century satire: “A hoyden in silk, yet wild as the wind”; “Call her not hoyden for loving freedom,” defends a progressive lyric; “The hoyden’s song silenced the courtiers,” a subversive image; “She was a hoyden, but her heart was gold”; Hoyden or heroine, she defied expectation.
Additional Notes
“Hoyden” reflects gendered anxieties about female unruliness; in Restoration or satirical verse, it labels women who defy decorum, often juxtaposed with “modest maid” to police behavioral boundaries through language.
Also Known As
tomboy hoydenish girl boisterous girl
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