bimbo

Etymology

From Italian bimbo (“a child, a male baby”), variant of bambino (“child”). Originated in Italian American theater, attested 1919, as “stupid, inconsequential man”, by 1920 developed sense of “floozie, attractive and stupid woman”.^[1] Popularized in 1920s by Jack Conway of entertainment magazine Variety, who also popularized baloney (“nonsense”) and palooka (“large stupid man”). Revived in popularity in 1980s US political sex scandals.^[1]

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈbɪmbəʊ/
• (US) enPR: bĭm'bō, IPA^(key): /ˈbɪmboʊ/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪmbəʊ

Noun

bimbo (plural bimbos or bimboes)

1. (derogatory, slang) A physically attractive woman who lacks intelligence.

   Synonyms: airhead, bimbette, floozie

   Coordinate term: himbo

   • [1972, Bernardo Bertolucci, Franco Arcalli, Last Tango in Paris, spoken by Paul (Marlon Brando):

     Anyway, to make a long, dull story even duller, I come from a time when a guy like me used to come into a joint like this and pick up a young chick like you and… call her a ‘bimbo’.]

   • a. 1992, P. J. O’Rourke, a sketch

     A bimbo is a woman who is not pretty enough to be a model, not smart enough to be an actress, and not nice enough to be a poisonous snake.

   • 2004 May 3, Anthony Lane, “Looney Tunes”, in The New Yorker‎:

     [Tina] Fey […] makes hay with the thought processes of a purebred bimbo: […]

2. (derogatory, slang) A stupid or foolish person.
   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter III:

     And one had to remember that most of the bimbos to whom Roberta Wickham had been giving the bird through the years had been of the huntin', shootin' and fishin' type, fellows who had more or less shot their bolt after saying 'Eh, what?' and slapping their leg with a hunting crop.

   • 1960, P. G. Wodehouse, Jeeves in the Offing, chapter XIII:

     Isn't he the bimbo who took the bread out of the mouths of the Thursday Review people? Chuck the blighter out of the window and we want to see him bounce.

See also

• Appendix:Words from Variety

References

Etymology

Borrowed from English bimbo, from Italian bimbo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbɪm.boː/

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: bim‧bo

Noun

bimbo f (plural bimbo's, diminutive bimbootje n)

1. (derogatory) bimbo (unintelligent floozie)

Etymology

From English bimbo, from Italian bimbo.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbimbo/, [ˈbimbo̞]
• Rhymes: -imbo
• Hyphenation^(key): bim‧bo

Noun

bimbo (colloquial, derogatory)

1. bimbo (moron)

Further reading

• “bimbo”, in Kielitoimiston sanakirja [Dictionary of Contemporary Finnish]‎ (in Finnish) (online dictionary, continuously updated), Kotimaisten kielten keskuksen verkkojulkaisuja 35, Helsinki: Kotimaisten kielten tutkimuskeskus (Institute for the Languages of Finland), 2004–, retrieved 2023-07-02

Etymology

Variant of bambino (“child”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbim.bo/
• Rhymes: -imbo
• Hyphenation: bìm‧bo

Noun

bimbo m (plural bimbi, feminine bimba, diminutive bimbétto or bimbìno, augmentative bimbóne)

1. child, baby (male)

Anagrams

• bombi

Etymology

From English bimbo, from Italian.

Noun

bimbo m (definite singular bimboen, indefinite plural bimboer, definite plural bimboene)

1. (derogatory) bimbo

References

• “bimbo” in The Bokmål Dictionary.

Etymology

From English bimbo, from Italian.

Noun

bimbo m (definite singular bimboen, indefinite plural bimboar, definite plural bimboane)

1. (derogatory) bimbo

References

• “bimbo” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈbim.bɔ/
• Rhymes: -imbɔ
• Syllabification: bim‧bo

Noun

bimbo

1. (Poznań) vocative singular of bimba

Verb

bimbo

1. first-person singular present indicative of bimbar

Noun

bimbo c

1. (derogatory) bimbo (attractive and stupid young woman)

References

• bimbo in Svensk ordbok (SO)
• bimbo in Svenska Akademiens ordbok (SAOB)