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Tico

American  
[tee-koh, tee-kaw] / ˈti koʊ, ˈti kɔ /

noun

  • Ticos
    plural
  1. a native or inhabitant of Costa Rica.


adjective

  1. of, relating to, or characteristic of Costa Rica or its inhabitants.

    an exhibition of Tico art.

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms


Etymology

Origin of Tico

First recorded in 1905–10; from Latin American Spanish tico, said to be from Costa Ricans’ predilection for diminutives formed with the suffix -itico


Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

By the late ’90s, the company had gobbled up the assets of most of its competitors — classic labels like Tico, Alegre and Inca.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2025

One of the first examples I can remember was the case of Kelly Marie Tran, who was cast as Rose Tico in the 2017 Star Wars movie.

From Seattle Times ● Feb. 26, 2024

“Two years ago,” said Marcelino Zamudio, one of two chefs and five owners, including bartender Hector Flora, an alumnus of the late Tico in Washington.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 24, 2023

The series also stars Fred Armisen as Tico, Renaldo's supportive uncle who happily works for a valet parking company.

From Salon ● Oct. 21, 2022

It was at Chalavia that a peon named Tico Viquez came to Blake with the news of a white man lying ill of black-water fever in a native hut.

From Never-Fail Blake by Arthur Stringer

Vying for a seventh World Cup appearance, the Ticos came in needing to gain ground after draws with Nicaragua and Haiti but their aggressive approach went unrewarded.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2025

Costa Rica is reeling from a 7-0 thrashing against Spain in its opener, and it’s anyone’s guess how the Ticos will respond.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 26, 2022

The Ticos have missed the World Cup only once this century.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 30, 2022

But the first tiebreaker is goal differential over the entire competition, so the Ticos would need to run up a six-goal victory to surpass the Americans.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 30, 2022

Anthony Contreras scored on a bicycle kick in the 30th minute, Christian Gil tied the score one minute later and Joel Campbell put the Ticos ahead in the first minute of first-half stoppage time.

From Fox News ● Mar. 28, 2022

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