bohemian - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

The Bohemian by William-Adolphe Bouguereau (1890)

From French bohémien (“person from Bohemia”), from Bohême (“Bohemia”).

This etymology is incomplete. You can help Wiktionary by elaborating on the origins of this term. In particular: the semantics need an explanation.

bohemian (plural bohemians)

  1. A person, especially an artist or writer, who lives an unconventional or nonconformist lifestyle.
    • 2008, Brett L. Abrams, Hollywood Bohemians, McFarland, page 195:
      During 1940–1941, the few Hollywood bohemians that did appear received "harsher" depictions. The United States' preparations for and eventual entry into World War II figured prominently in this decline and change in the treatment of Hollywood bohemians.
    • 2014, Joanna Levin, Edward Whitley, editors, Whitman among the Bohemians, University of Iowa Press, page xiv:
      Whitman was, by no means, the "King of Bohemia"—that title went to Henry Clapp Jr., the founding editor of the _Saturday Press_—but the bohemians embraced and supported him at a crucial moment in his career.

person whose lifestyle is unconventional

bohemian (comparative more bohemian, superlative most bohemian)

  1. Unconventional, especially in habit or dress.
    • 2001, Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce (scriptwriters), Moulin Rouge!,
      Please tell me you're not one of Toulouse's oh-so-talented, charmingly bohemian, tragically impoverished protégés!
    • 2002, Michael Hicks, Henry Cowell, Bohemian, University of Illinois Press, page 4:
      Cowell's earlier, more bohemian years are not only the most interesting, they comprise the only part of his life for which one could reasonably attempt to do the kind of work that I have tried to do here.
    • 2014, Shabana Mir, Muslim American Women on Campus, University of North Carolina Press, page 18:
      Georgetown, a Jesuit university and a "hot big city school" (Mathews 2007:53): is popularly believed to be "hotter," wealthier, more bohemian, more liberal, and more laid back than its secular counterpart, GWU.
    • 2017, Shawn Chandler Bingham, “Bohemian Groves, Grooves, Gardens, and Guns”, in Shawn Chandler Bingham, Lindsey A. Freeman, editors, The Bohemian South, University of North Carolina Press, page 271:
      The magazine's aesthetic also bends it into more bohemian territory. Food articles often have botanical illustrations of lesser-eaten greenery like endive and watercress, drawn by artist John Burgoyne.

unconventional