Meanings
- derogatoryinformaluncountablechiefly Oxbridge and rugbyAssociation football.
The regretful fact is that rugby players, despite being infinitely more professional than most of their oikball counterparts, do not earn enough money from the game to not have to work again.
2007 November 5, Brian Moore, “Lawrence Dallaglio and Mike Catt are confused”, in The Telegraph2 more examples
“Oikball!” The senior broker was a well turned-out specimen. Hand-made suit, fob chain disappearing into top pocket, blue dress shirt with white cutaway collar, slicked-back hair. Rugger was his game of choice.[…]But almost four decades on I still remember his pithy dismissal of my sport rather than any of the tips he handed out to me, his wet-behind-the-ears investment client.
2023 October 11, Ed Warner, “VAR cock-ups are hastening the inevitable arrival of AI referees”, in City AMSpeaking of which – I get talking to two Harlequins FC fans on the train platform, and they offer me a seat next to them on the way to the stadium. The older one, though helpful on the rules, which I know nothing about, chooses to bravely embrace all stereotypes by calling football “oikball” and reminiscing about afternoons spent in the car park of Twickenham Stoop, eating pies and drinking champagne.
2025 May 31, Marie le Conte, “‘It’s not enough to say rugby bored me… I couldn’t even bring myself to despise it’”, in The Observer
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From oik + ball, from the perception that association football is played and watched primarily by the working class.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
oikball. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oikball
“oikball.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oikball. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oikball,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oikball.
Source: oikball on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.