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Definitions

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition

  1. n. A person with artistic or literary interests who disregards conventional standards of behavior.

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

  1. n. A native or an inhabitant of Bohemia, a crownland and kingdom of the Austrian empire.
  2. n. A follower of John Huss; a Hussite.
  3. n. A gipsy.
  4. n. A person, especially an artist or a literary man, who leads a free and often somewhat dissipated life, having little regard to what society he frequents, and despising conventionalities generally.
  5. n. The ancient tongue of Bohemia, a member of the Slavic branch of the Aryan family.
  6. Of or pertaining to Bohemia or its language.
  7. Of or pertaining to, or characteristic of, the so-called Bohemians; unconventional; free from social restraints: as, a Bohemian life.
  8. In ornithology, erratic; wandering; irregularly migratory; of unsettled habits.
  9. n. As employed by the French geologists, the later deposits of Silurian time, from the fine development of these strata in the Bohemian basin: equivalent to Upper Silurian or to Silurian in its restricted sense.

Wiktionary

  1. n. an unconventional or nonconformist artist or writer.
  2. adj. unconventional, especially in habit or dress.

GNU Webster's 1913

  1. adj. Of or pertaining to Bohemia, or to the language of its ancient inhabitants or their descendants. See bohemian, n., 2.
  2. adj. Of or pertaining to a social gypsy or “Bohemian” (see Bohemian, n., 3); vagabond; unconventional; free and easy.
  3. n. A native of Bohemia.
  4. n. The language of the Czechs (the ancient inhabitants of Bohemia), the richest and most developed of the dialects of the Slavic family.
  5. n. A restless vagabond; -- originally, an idle stroller or gypsy (as in France) thought to have come from Bohemia; in later times often applied to an adventurer in art or literature, of irregular, unconventional habits, questionable tastes, or free morals.

WordNet 3.0

  1. n. a nonconformist writer or artist who lives an unconventional life
  2. adj. of or relating to Bohemia or its language or people
  3. adj. unconventional in especially appearance and behavior
  4. n. 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)
  5. n. a native or inhabitant of Bohemia in the Czech Republic

Etymologies

  1. French bohémien, from Bohême, Bohemia (from the unconventional lifestyle of Gypsies, erroneously supposed to have come from there).

Examples

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Lists

These user-created lists contain the word ‘bohemian’.

Comments

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  • BrainyBabe Love, the most tactless, the most bohemian of gods, had appeared just when he was not wanted, and smitten Scales boisterously between the shoulder-blades.
    -- ''Yashima, or, The Gorgeous West'' by R T Sherwood, 1931. Dec 23, 2008

  • reesetee A sort of lower-case bohemian vs. upper-case Bohemian, yes? Dec 1, 2007

  • sionnach I think it can refer to either - both your Mimi-Rodolfo, RENT types living in a garret, or denizens of the Czech republic.

    So Tchaikovsky might have been classified as Bohemian, based on his profession and lifestyle, but Dvorak would be classified as Bohemian based on his place of birth. Nov 30, 2007

  • bilby This is why we call it WeirdNET: the definition that appears 'automatically' is often a bit wacky.

    Bohemia was certainly a region, roughly equating to modern Slovakia and the Czech Republic. Nov 30, 2007

  • singlepayernow i thought it referred to a person of the arts; a bohemian artist in music or visuals or plays; or at least a style of art; so it refers to a region then? Nov 30, 2007

‘bohemian’ has been looked up 1453 times, loved by 6 people, added to 51 lists, commented on 5 times, and has a Scrabble score of 15.