tenderfoot

tender +‎ foot. Refers to the delicate feet of newcomers to ranching or mining areas. First attested 1866.

tenderfoot (plural tenderfeet or tenderfoots)

1. (chiefly Canada, US) An inexperienced person; a novice.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:beginner, Thesaurus:newcomer

2. (historical) A newcomer or arriviste to the region in the American frontier (Old West and Wild West).
   • 1914, Elinore Pruitt Stewart, Letters of a Woman Homesteader, Houghton Mifflin Company, page 173:

     Watson had risen so hurriedly that he had not been careful about his “tarp” and water had run into his bed. But that would n't^[sic] disconcert anybody but a tenderfoot.

3. (dated) A Boy Scout of the lowest rank.

• cheechako
• greenhorn
• newbie