cholo

American  

[choh-loh] / ˈtʃoʊ loʊ /

noun

Chiefly Southwestern U.S.

• cholos
  plural

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.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cholos
  plural

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

See Examples For:

cholo cholos

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

“My first impression was like, ‘Oh look, a cholo movie starring Shia LaBeouf,’ and technically that’s what it is,” said Lalo Alcaraz, the editorial cartoonist and satirist.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2020

She sees her neighbourhood’s cholo culture fading away.

From The Guardian ● Sep. 22, 2016

Cholo goth duo Prayers: Rafael Reyes, a member of the cholo goth duo Prayers, performs during the 2016 Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2016

Wasn’t nary one of ’em that suited her, and just when the chickens ’r the cholo gals needed her, here was a Briggs City galoot a-crossin’ the yard.

From Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher by Gates, Eleanor

You can track the evolution of these shapes back to the 1940s and ’50s pachuco down to the cholos of the present day.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 12, 2023

It was this mix of paisas, cholos, skaters, rockers, older people, younger people, people getting dropped off at the bus stop — everyone’s shopping.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 20, 2023

“The push to make shows about Latinos without maids and gardeners and cholos is damaging to working-class communities,” Chávez added.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 13, 2021

We talk photography, Frida Kahlo and the cholos of L.A.’s Eastside.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2017

Now my best friend and I are the oldest cholos in the barrio.

From "The Freedom Writers Diary" by The Freedom Writers