drugstore cowboy

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of drugstore cowboy¹

First recorded in 1905–10

Example Sentences

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

From Literature

“Drugstore Cowboy” is so excellent, and so true to the experience of drug users, he wrote, that “you are happy to be a member of the human race that produced it.”

From New York Times

“Drugstore Cowboy,” “Jesus’ Son” and “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas” — among others — capture the unique wonders and profound pain of an addict’s life, all while commenting on the incurable illnesses within American culture.

From Los Angeles Times

After the indie poetry of Drugstore Cowboy and My Own Private Idaho, he made a handbrake turn into brittle, brilliant satire with To Die For and slam-dunked a major hit with Good Will Hunting before reappearing with the minimalist oddball comedy of Gerry and the discordant, Columbine-adjacent Elephant.

From The Guardian

He took the message to heart — “No one wanted to be a drugstore cowboy,” he said at his 2009 Hall of Fame induction — and earned all-state honors before landing at Evansville College, where he worked his way onto the NBA radar as a defensive-minded guard.

From Washington Post