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🟠 A hoop dancer 🏀 A basketball player 🛢️ A barrel maker
hooper

hooper

1 7.4
A person who plays basketball for fun
  • noun
  • /ˈhuːpər/
  • Slang
translation icon : jugador de baloncesto
  • During the summer, you can find hoopers in almost every neighborhood, enjoying pickup games all day long.

But my man, I said it ain't really no Hooper like that.

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Examples

  • Brian hooper.

    Whiskey Tango Foxtrot (2016)

  • With a number of upperclassmen who could emerge as some of the best hoopers in the GLIAC, a conference championship is within reach for this year's squad.

    Blog text (21)

  • I'm a hooper from way back.

    Corrina, Corrina (1994)

  • Those guys are hoopers, man; they know how to play.

    Blog text (23)

  • Everyone says he's a young Sonny Hooper.

    Hooper (1978)

  • I need your five top rappers that could play, that could hoop, and I need your five top hoopers back in rap.

  • Especially American hoopers play, it's more fun, they have more energy, they're more tied in the world, cares more about what they do and they give it back to you.

  • And needless to say, the Lithuanian hoopers who had brought home the gold just a few years earlier, among them the Warriors' Sarunas Marciulionis and future Hall of Fame center Arvydas Sabonis, took notice.

    Blog text (16)

  • Many local hoopers gather at the park every Saturday to show off their skills and have fun.

  • She has been a passionate hooper since childhood and loves playing with friends on weekends.

Synonyms

basketball player
vshooper
70 1.0

A person who plays basketball for a team, often professionally

is used for informal people who enjoy the sport rather than team professionals
baller
vshooper
  • Slang
4 8.0

A person who plays basketball professionally or at a high level

is for casual people and fans rather than elite competitors
basketballer
vshooper
1 2.5

A person who plays basketball, usually as a professional or skilled player

is applied to casual enthusiasts and hobbyists rather than skilled professionals
hoopster
vshooper
  • Slang
1 8.4

A person who plays basketball

is used for informal hobbyists and enthusiastic amateurs
basketeer
vshooper
1 7.9

A person who plays basketball

is broader including casual enthusiasts not only athletes
cager
vshooper
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A person who plays basketball, especially in the early days of the sport

is used today for informal hobbyists rather than historical athletes

Surface Forms

hooper singular
hoopers plural

Morphology

hooper = hoop (semi-transparent) = hoop + er

The form is clear, but the basketball-specific sense is informal and somewhat specialized rather than fully predictable.

Etymology

Hooper The word hooper comes from the simple word hoop, which means 'ring', plus -er meaning 'a person who does something'. So a hooper in sport is someone who plays or loves basketball, because the game uses a hoop to score.