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Glite Dictionary
yardie

yardie

2 9.9
A person from Jamaica who belongs to a violent drug gang
  • noun
  • /ˈjɑːrdi/
  • Slur
: [término ofensivo para miembro de una banda jamaicana]
  • The police arrested three members of a notorious yardie gang involved in drug trafficking.

I've seen some yardies go out a fight in the in the in the yard.

Examples

  • Countries such as Jamaica tend to be viewed in terms of their role as transit routes or as the place where yardie gangsters hail from.

    Academic text (2007)

  • But what Shabba does in "Shine and Criss" is offer a view into the mind of a Yardie whose world is one of extreme violence, a world that has no time for what Bajan writer George Lamming called "The Pleasures of Exile."

    Academic text (1994)

  • After the recent violence, the community is worried about the influence of yardie culture in the area.

  • Many films depict the life of a yardie to showcase the harsh realities of gang violence.

Synonyms

hoodlum
vsyardie
  • Offensive
35 7.6

A young person who steals, fights, or causes trouble with a gang

is similar but identifies those of Jamaican origin often linked to drugs and violence
gangbanger
vsyardie
  • Offensive
32 9.9

A person who joins a criminal gang and often takes part in violent acts

is a gang member of Jamaican origin often tied to drug trafficking and violence
hoody
vsyardie
  • Offensive
1 9.9

A young person who behaves in a threatening or criminal way

is the specific term for gang members of Jamaican origin often tied to drugs

Surface Forms

yardie singular
yardies plural

Morphology

yardie = yard (opaque) = yard + ie

Although formed from 'yard' + the diminutive/agentive '-ie', the slang sense 'member of a Jamaican criminal gang' is dialectal and not directly derivable from the literal meaning of 'yard' for an average learner.

Etymology

Yardie comes from Jamaican English, where yard means 'home' or 'back home'. It first meant someone from Jamaica, and in places like London it came to be used for members of Jamaican gangs involved in drugs and violence, so today yardie can mean a criminal from Jamaica.