Bohemian

//boʊˈhimi.ən// adj, name, noun

adj, name, noun ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A person, especially an artist or writer, who lives an unconventional or nonconformist lifestyle.

    "Burlington, where Mr. Twitchell grew up and where he now spends summers, was singled out by David Brooks in his wickedly funny “Bobos in Paradise” as a model Latte Town, a city that has perfectly reconciled the mercenary instincts of the bourgeoisie with the artistic spirit of the bohemians to create an upscale consumer culture."

  2. 2
    A native or resident of Bohemia.
  3. 3
    a nonconformist writer or artist who lives an unconventional life wordnet
  4. 4
    A Gypsy, a Romani. archaic
  5. 5
    a native or inhabitant of Bohemia in the Czech Republic wordnet
Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Alternative letter-case form of bohemian; someone known for flouting social conventions, especially someone involved in the arts. alt-of
  2. 7
    a member of a people with dark skin and hair who speak Romany and who traditionally live by seasonal work and fortunetelling; they are believed to have originated in northern India but now are living on all continents (but mostly in Europe, North Africa, and North America) wordnet
Adjective
  1. 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!"

  2. 2
    Of, or relating to Bohemia or its language. not-comparable

    "He observed, that the Bohemian language was true Sclavonick."

  3. 3
    Alternative letter-case form of bohemian; unconventional in habit or dress. alt-of, not-comparable
Adjective
  1. 1
    unconventional in especially appearance and behavior wordnet
  2. 2
    of or relating to Bohemia or its language or people wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    The Czech language. historical

Synonyms

All synonyms
unconventionalaffablearabbeatbeatnikbedouin

Example

More examples

"Come with us to the Bohemian forests!"

Etymology

Etymology 1

Borrowed from French bohémien (“person from Bohemia”), from Bohême (“Bohemia”), equivalent to Bohemia + -an.

Etymology 2

From Bohemia + -ian. In sense of Romani and by association, marginalized artists, from French bohémien (“person from Bohemia, Romani”), from Bohême (“Bohemia”). Regarding the sense evolution, compare gypsy.

Related phrases

Bohemian BrethrenBohemian ForestBohemian ShepherdBohemian chattererBohemian earspoonBohemian glassBohemian pheasantBohemian waxwingCentral Bohemian Region

More for "bohemian"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.