cholo

American  

[choh-loh] / ˈtʃoʊ loʊ /

noun

Chiefly Southwestern U.S.

plural

cholos

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.

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

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

Foos Gone Wild, the social-media phenomenon that celebrates cholo culture, declared “Shia is a foo’” on Instagram, leading to a cascade of approving, comical messages from other users.

From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2020

“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

And when a cholo got his time and left the line, he showed him the way he was to go.

From Alec Lloyd, Cowpuncher by Gates, Eleanor