boho, n. and a. slang (orig. and chiefly U.S.).
(ˈbəʊhəʊ)
Also (in sense 1) bohoe, and with capital initial.
[Abbrev. of Bohemian a. and n.: see -o2.]
A. n.
1. A Czechoslovak, spec. one resident in the U.S. Obs. or rare. Cf. bohunk n.
| 1920 T. Čapek Čechs in Amer. x. 114 In some localities Bohemians are called ‘Bohoes’, in others ‘Bohunks’; less familiar are the terms ‘Cheskey’ and ‘Bootchkey’. 1936 Mencken Amer. Lang. (ed. 4) vi. vi. 295 For Czech: bohoe, bohick, bohee, bohunk, bootchkey and cheskey. |
2. A person who has an unconventional or Bohemian way of life, esp. one with literary or artistic preoccupations; such a lifestyle, or the subculture associated with it. Cf. Bohemian n. 3.
| 1958 J. Davis College Vocab. (term paper, Indiana Univ. Folklore Archive) 5 Boho,..a nonconformist, usually an Art or Speech and Theater major. 1968 T. Wolfe Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test xxi. 316, 48-year-old bohos sucking up to young heads of the new generation of Hip. 1979 Fanfare (Toronto) 9 June 8/3 Following the New York example..young professionals—architects, hairdressers, photographers—have decided that boho is chi-chi. 1988 New Musical Express 24 Dec. 37/6 Neon Wilderness is Algren at the very edge of things, tracing short story narratives from the wild side, bohos, losers and night people surviving in inner city nightmare zones. |
B. adj. Of or pertaining to such a person, lifestyle, or subculture; unconventional, decadent; artistic, fashionable. Cf. Bohemian a. 3.
| 1958 J. Davis College Vocab. (term paper, Indiana Univ. Folklore Archive) 5 Boho,..Bohemian. 1970 E. Segal Love Story i. 3 Her costume..was a bit too Boho for my taste. I especially loathed that Indian thing she carried for a handbag. 1975 J. Mitchell The Boho Dance (song) in Hissing of Summer Lawns (record), Down in the cellar in the Boho zone I went looking for some sweet inspiration. 1984 Time 29 Oct. 83/3 Sprouse had dropped out of the Rhode Island School of Design and done some apprentice work with Halston before taking up the boho life in Manhattan. 1993 New Statesman & Society 23 Apr. 40 She swandives gracefully into San Francisco's boho snakepit only to find, as one does, that beneath the alluring narratives of decadence ‘it was chaos’. |