chulo

Galician

Adjective

chulo (feminine chula, masculine plural chulos, feminine plural chulas)

1. cute, pretty, lovely
2. (colloquial) cocky

   Synonyms: arrogante, petulante

Noun

chulo m (plural chulos)

1. pimp

   Synonym: bagaxeiro

Portuguese

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.lu/

 

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.lu/

• (Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.lu/
  • (Northern Portugal) IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃu.lu/

• Rhymes: -ulu
• Hyphenation: chu‧lo

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Spanish chulo.

Adjective

chulo (feminine chula, masculine plural chulos, feminine plural chulas)

1. (of language or words) coarse; vulgar; obscene

   Synonyms: obsceno, vulgar, de baixo calão

2. (of people or their actions and attitude) vulgar; obscene; distasteful

   Synonyms: obsceno, vulgar

Noun

chulo m (plural chulos)

1. a term in foul language, profanity
2. (Portugal) pimp (prostitution solicitor)

   Synonyms: cafetão, proxeneta

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

chulo

1. first-person singular present indicative of chular

Further reading

• “chulo”, in Dicionário Aulete Digital (in Portuguese), Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon Editora Digital, 2008–2026

Spanish

Etymology

Borrowed from Italian ciullo, a now-obsolete shortening of Italian fanciullo, a diminutive based ultimately on Latin īnfāns.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈt͡ʃulo/ [ˈt͡ʃu.lo]
• Rhymes: -ulo
• Syllabification: chu‧lo

Adjective

chulo (feminine chula, masculine plural chulos, feminine plural chulas, superlative chulísimo) (informal)

1. (Latin America) cute, pretty, lovely
2. (Latin America, of people) good-looking, handsome/pretty
3. cool, neat
4. (Spain, of people) cocky (overly confident, arrogant and boastful)

   Synonyms: chulito, engreído, arrogante, petulante, altanero

   • 2017 March 18, Elvira Lindo, “Blablacar, el sainete”, in El País‎^[1], Madrid: Ediciones El País, S.L., →ISSN, archived from the original on 28 December 2024:

     Después de que un tipo se pusiera chulo en el tren porque le pedí que hablara más bajo por el móvil, decidí que mi campaña por el buen uso del celular había concluido.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Derived terms

• chulada f
• chulamente
• chulear
• chulería f
• chulesco m
• chuliento
• chulito (diminutive)
• más chulo que un ocho
• papi chulo

Descendants

• → Catalan: xulo
• → Portuguese: chulo

Noun

chulo m (plural chulos, feminine chula, feminine plural chulas)

1. (Spain) cocky person
2. (Spain) pimp

   Synonyms: proxeneta, rufián, cabrón, cafiche, alcahuete

3. (Venezuela, colloquial) freeloader, mooch

   Synonyms: gorrón, parásito, lambucio, golillero, oportunista

4. (bullfighting) a bullfighter's assistant

Further reading

• “chulo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 24th edition, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 30 October 2026
• “chulo”, in Diccionario de americanismos [Dictionary of Americanisms] (in Spanish), Association of Academies of the Spanish Language [Spanish: Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española], 2010
• Coromines, Joan; Pascual, José Antonio (1984), “chulo”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic etymological dictionary]‎^[2] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 405