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/

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.lu/
  • (Southern Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈʃu.lo/

 

• (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.^[1][2]

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

References

1. “chulo”, in Dicionário infopédia da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Porto: Porto Editora, 2003–2025
2. “chulo”, in Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa (in Portuguese), Lisbon: Priberam, 2008–2025

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)

1. (of actions) cute, pretty, lovely, cool, nifty

   Synonyms: mono, cuqui, bonito, genial; see also Thesaurus:guay

2. (Spain, colloquial, 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:

     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)

3. (Chile, colloquial) ordinary, common, vulgar, rascal

   Synonyms: ordinario, rasca, chuliento, mugriento, flaite

Usage notes

• Chulo is to define actions and means cute, but in people it means cocky. To describe an action as cocky one uses chulesco. For example, "una jugada chula" means "a cute play" while "una jugada chulesca" means "a cocky play".

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)

1. (Spain) pimp

   Synonyms: proxeneta, rufián, cabrón, cafiche, alcahuete

2. (Venezuela, colloquial) freeloader, mooch

   Synonyms: gorrón, parásito, lambucio, golillero, oportunista

3. (bullfighting) a bullfighter's assistant

Further reading

• “chulo”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10
• “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
• Joan Coromines, José A[ntonio] Pascual (1984) “chulo”, in Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico [Critical Castilian and Hispanic Etymological Dictionary] (in Spanish), volume II (Ce–F), Madrid: Gredos, →ISBN, page 405