cholo

American  

[choh-loh] / ˈtʃoʊ loʊ /

noun

Chiefly Southwestern U.S.

plural

cholos

1. (especially among Mexican Americans) a teenage boy who is a member of a street gang.

2. Usually Disparaging. a term used to refer to a Mexican or Mexican American.

3. a mestizo of Spanish America.

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Sensitive Note

When used of a Mexican or Mexican American, the term cholo usually refers disparagingly to an immigrant who is considered to be low-class and poorly educated. However, cholo is also a term of self-reference used by Mexican American youths.

Etymology

Origin of cholo

First recorded in 1850–55; from Mexican Spanish: “mestizo, peasant,” possibly a shortening of Cholollán (from Nahuatl Cholōllān, modern Cholula ), a city-state in pre-Columbian Mexico

Example Sentences

But while we all rightfully hail Davis as a prophet, we usually sequester Rodriguez’s insights to the genre of cholo lit.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 12, 2023

For “Made in L.A.,” for example, Ayala focused on the underground magazine, “Teen Angels,” which documented cholo street culture in the late 20th century, featuring artworks, photographs and essays by gang-affiliated or incarcerated Chicanos.

From New York Times • May 17, 2022

Surprisingly, Olmos appeared in “full cholo wear,” Trejo writes, including a “blue shirt buttoned up at the top and flying open to the bottom.”

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 29, 2021

El cholo Simeone le pide a su equipo que toquen la bola con más velocidad.

From The Guardian • May 28, 2016

And when a cholo got his time and left the line, he showed him the way he was to go.

From Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher by Gates, Eleanor