drugstore cowboy

American  

noun

Slang.

1. a young man who loafs around drugstores or on street corners.

2. a person who dresses like a cowboy but has never worked as one.

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Etymology

Origin of drugstore cowboy

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

Everyday words, surely, but ones that, in the mouth of the drugstore cowboy, acquire meanings altogether different from their common use.

From Scientific American • Nov. 26, 2012

A wisecrack when uttered by a mythical king is ten times funnier than the same wisecrack offered by a drugstore cowboy.

From Time Magazine Archive

He is a dime-store philosopher, a drugstore cowboy, a men's room conversationalist.

From Time Magazine Archive

But follow the right-hand signal of Big Tex�a 52-ft.-high drugstore cowboy statue giving directions in a mechanical voice that sounds like a blend of Charlton Heston and Chill Wills.

From Time Magazine Archive

He described Haupt as a "drugstore cowboy," which was slang for a young man who hangs out on street corners or drugstores.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple