Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (mainly US) a novice, a beginner, a new recruit; esp. in milit., police, sports use.

c.1880		‘O’Reilly’ [US army poem] He drank with all the rookies, and shoved his face as well, / The whole outfit is on the bum, / O’Reilly’s gone to Hell.
1892		Kipling ‘Route Marchin’ in Barrack-Room Ballads (1893) 208: So ’ark an’ ’eed, you rookies.
1896		Regiment 26 Sept. 389/1: The ‘rookey’ believes the story, though he is at a loss to understand.
1900		Bulletin (Sydney) 17 Nov. 32/1: One cold evening the sentry was a ‘rooky’ (recruit) who had been told exactly what to do when he saw a stout, benevolent-looking gentleman coming down the drive about 9 o’clock; it would be the Governor’s butler going for his evening stroll, and it would be ‘all right.’.
1900		North Amer. Rev. Dec. 850: It is certainly wonderful what a few months’ hard work accomplished in ‘licking these “rookies” into shape.’.
1906		New Boys’ World 29 Dec. 95: What’s yer nime, rooky?
1907		D. Runyon ‘The Defence of Strikerville’ in From First To Last (1954) 14: We comes to a bunch of Sibley tents, and a rooky challenges us. [Ibid.] 15: The rook yells for the officer of the day.
1913		H.A. Franck Zone Policeman 88 243: Like all Z. P. ‘rookies’ (recruits) I had been warned early to beware the ‘sympathy dodge.’.
1920		A. Baer Two & Three 27 Feb. [synd. col.] In February a loose-eared rook will grab off a four-column portrait in a paper that wouldn’t even print his obit in April.
1922		‘J.H. Ross’ Mint (1955) 44: ‘Swinging it on the fucking rookies, they are, the old sweats,’ grumbled Tug.
1928		R. Fisher Walls Of Jericho 13: We got that Court Avenue job in the mornin’, and if I got to break in one rooky on it, I might as well break in two.
1930		(con. 1914–18) Brophy & Partridge Songs and Sl. of the British Soldier 157: Rooky. — A recruit.
1933		N. Algren ‘So Help Me’ in Texas Stories (1995) 19: What do you think that rookie done when it pull up and I was shovin’ him into the blind, suitcase and all?
1935		(con. 1920s) J.T. Farrell Judgement Day in Studs Lonigan (1936) 538: With all you rookies crowding me out, Steve O’Grady will have to be off [...] getting himself a job.
1938		D. Runyon ‘Baseball Hattie’ in Runyon on Broadway (1954) 645: He is nothing but a rookie.
1941		G. Kersh They Die with Their Boots Clean 3: You rooks can grouse and grumble about discipline, but in a time like that you want it.
1948		(con. 1944) N. Mailer Naked and Dead 542: He was the noncom talking to the rookie.
1957		H. Simmons Corner Boy 60: A rookie policeman was reassigned to the county. [Ibid.] 110: Who’s the rook.
1959		A. Zugsmith Beat Generation 62: Three uniformed rookies stood by the three unmarked, parked cars.
1963		J. Rechy City of Night 125: I get the feeling one of the other cops is a rooky and the fat one is trying to impress him.
1969		M. Puzo Godfather 136: What about somebody really tough who hasn’t made his rep yet, a good rookie?
1972		D. Jenkins Semi-Tough 5: Shake Tiller made his first big impression on the team even though he was a rookie.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 26: At the time I was a twenty-two-year-old rookie working Wilshire Patrol.
1998		K. Anderson Night Dogs 241: [H]e’d worked down on skid row as a rookie.
1999		D. Looser ‘Boob Jargon’ in NZEJ 13 34: rookie n. Officer who has just finished training.
2000		Guardian Rev. 25 Feb. 6: It’s like sports [...] The rookies get the attention, and it’s the veterans who come through and win the championships, when the rookie’s at home watching on TV.
2001		D. Looser Boobslang [U. Canterbury D.Phil. thesis] 155/2: rookie n. a police or prison officer recently completed his or her training.
2002		Simon & Burns ‘The Cost’ Wire ser. 1 ep. 10 [TV script] He drops his cuffs. He says ‘Here you go, rook’.
2005		P. Temple Broken Shore (2007) [ebook] I don’t need protecting [...] I’m not a rookie.
2006		G. Iles Turning Angel 93: The cop, who looks young enough to be a rookie.
2008		Simon & Pelecanos ‘Late Editions’ Wire ser. 5 ep. 9 [TV script] Sorry, rook. he’s all yours.
2009		L. McIlvanney All the Colours 52: [of politicians] [T]he two or three rookies I’d coaxed and flattered,.
2010		Codella and Bennett Alphaville (2011) 98: A single uniform rookie may not exactly be the most potent crime-fighting weapon.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] Now this rookie had to go and shoot young Michael Bennett.
2023		Rayman & Blau Riker’s 14: ‘Six lower B, rookie’.

2. (US black) an outsider; one who is outside the group norms.

1968

‘Sl. of Watts’ in Current Sl. III:2 41: Rooky, n. Someone who behaves inappropriately; someone who is not in the group.