First recorded in 1940–45; from Spanish (Mexico, southwestern U.S.) : probably originally a resident of El Paso, Texas, equivalent to (El) Pas(o) + -uco pejorative noun suffix, with expressive replacement of s by ch; compare Mexican Spanish pachuco “worthless card hand,” derivative of paso “pass”
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Michelle Argote, the stylist offering her low-cost services on pachuco night, worked at various stores in the outdoor mall as a teen, and has frequented the record store since it opened.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 25, 2026
A video of Vietnamese men dressed in pachuco style has gone viral on social media, sparking conversations about appropriation and who gets to partake in the culture.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 22, 2024
What’s emphasized instead is pachuco cool, Chicano style, Mexican resilience.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2023
Like many other teen-age Mexican Americans, Chavez became a pachuco, affecting a zoot suit with pegged pants, a broad flat hat and a ducktail haircut.
From Time Magazine Archive
Some sociologists now see the pachuco movement as the first example of militant separatism among Chicanos, an assertion of a distinct identity hostile to Anglo culture.
From Time Magazine Archive
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
