Meanings
plural shoobies
- Mid AtlanticNew JerseySouthernUSslangA visitor to a coastal area who looks or acts out of place; especially an awkward or annoying tourist.
For Brigantine residents, the sight of an out-of-towner, or "shoobie" as locals refer to tourists, maniacally jumping about and swatting at his legs, is as common on the beach as lifeguards and bikinis.
2005. Patrick Costello. Greenhead Politics: The Story Brigantine Taxpayers Were Never Told, Page 9
Origin
Likely from shoe in some way, if not a clipping of shoebox, with diminutive -ie. Other hypotheses appear unconvincing. Compare Benny (“northern or out-of-state tourist to the Jersey Shore”), or terms like touron and yuppie. The popular legend states that the term is attested from circa late 1800s, where new railroads to the Jersey Shore brought in floods of tourists to the beaches, who often carried their own lunches (rather than dined at seaside restaurants), packed by the trains in a shoebox. These tourists were then stereotyped for their habits, and the sense widened.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with shoobie
All rhymes →Cite this entry
shoobie. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoobie
“shoobie.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoobie. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “shoobie,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/shoobie.
Source: shoobie on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.