palooka

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Noun

palooka (plural palookas)

1. (US slang) A stupid, oafish or clumsy person.
2. (US, boxing, bridge and similar ventures) Someone incompetent or untalented.
   • 1923, Lincoln Star, Nebraska, March 1923:

     But [Jack] Dempsey against some palooka who had been press agented into greatness and into the form of a Dempsey menace — that would pack any outdoor arena.

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