cholo
cholo Lexical Profile
cholo Game Scores & Validity
• noun
North American A young Mexican American man belonging to a distinct urban subculture characterized by specific street fashion (such as khaki chinos, flannel shirts, and bandanas), lowrider cars, and sometimes street gang affiliation.
"The film respectfully portrays the daily lives and community bonds of young cholos growing up in Southern California barrios."
In Latin America (especially the Andean region) and historically in the Southwestern United States, a person of Indigenous or mixed European and Indigenous (mestizo) ancestry.
"In contemporary Peruvian politics and music, many citizens proudly embrace their identity as cholos."
• adjective
North American Relating to or characteristic of the urban Mexican American youth subculture associated with lowrider cars, street fashion, and Chicano neighborhood identity.
"The photography exhibition documented the evolution of cholo style and lowrider artistry in East Los Angeles since the 1970s."
Word Nuance & Usage
Depending on region and speaker, this term carries widely varying connotations: in the Southwestern United States it commonly refers to a specific Chicano youth and lowrider subculture, whereas in parts of Latin America it has historically been used as a derogatory class or racial slur against Indigenous and mestizo people, though it has also been reclaimed as a badge of cultural pride.
• Rhymes for cholo
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from American Spanish cholo, which arose in colonial Peru and Mexico either from the Mochica word cholu ('boy' or 'youth') or from Nahuatl xolotl ('dog' or 'servant'), originally used in the colonial caste system to designate people of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.