BOHEMIAN • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Bohemian

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/boʊhˈimiən/ Listen

adjective

Bohemian adj.

1.

Of or pertaining to Bohemia, or to the language of its ancient inhabitants or their descendants. See Bohemian, n., 2.

2.

Of or pertaining to a social gypsy or "Bohemian" (see Bohemian, n., 3); vagabond; unconventional; free and easy. (Modern) "Hers was a pleasant Bohemian life till she was five and thirty." "Artists have abandoned their Bohemian manners and customs nowadays."

Bohemian chatterer, or Bohemian waxwing (Zool.), a small bird of Europe and America (Ampelis garrulus); the waxwing.

Bohemian glass, a variety of hard glass of fine quality, made in Bohemia. It is of variable composition, containing usually silica, lime, and potash, rarely soda, but no lead. It is often remarkable for beauty of color.

noun

Bohemian n.

1.

A native of Bohemia.

2.

The language of the Czechs (the ancient inhabitants of Bohemia), the richest and most developed of the dialects of the Slavic family.

3.

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. (Modern) Note: In this sense from the French bohémien, a gypsy; also, a person of irregular habits. "She was of a wild, roving nature, inherited from father and mother, who were both Bohemians by taste and circumstances."

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Etymology of 'Bohemian'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Bohemian" Quotes from Famous Books

... violin, and armed with claws like those on the terminations of bats' wings—shook with senile trembling; but those convulsively agitated hands became firmer than steel pincers or lobsters' claws when they lifted any precious article—an onyx cup, a Venetian glass, or a dish of Bohemian crystal. This strange old man had an aspect so thoroughly rabbinical and cabalistic that he would have been burnt on the mere testimony of ...

— The Mummy's Foot • Theophile Gautier

... thou dost say, Golden-heart: to Persia or Cathay—ay, to the far side of the green-cheese moon, or to the court of Tamburlaine the Great," and he laughed a quick, dry, nervous laugh that had no laughter in it. "I had one of De Lannoy's red Bohemian bottles, Nick," he rattled on feverishly; "but that butter-fingered rogue"—he nodded his head at the outer stair—"dropped it, smash! and made a thousand most counterfeit fourpences out of what cost me ...

— Master Skylark • John Bennett

... Fayliss. The Main Attraction was decidedly prepossessing. Tall, peculiarly graceful both in appearance and manner, dressed with an immaculateness that seemed excessive in this post-Bohemian circle. There was a decided musical quality to his speech, as he made polite comments upon being introduced to each of us, and an exactness in sentence-structure, word-choices and enunciation that bespoke the foreigner. Jocelyn took him around with the air of conducting ...

— The Troubadour • Robert Augustine Ward Lowndes

... professes herself attached to the Duchess; yet she does not scruple to tell everything as it really is, nor, out of any of the usual little weaknesses of friendship, does she omit any one single detail that proves the strange and indeed somewhat "Bohemian" manner of life of her patroness. We, the readers of her book, are obviously obliged to her for her indiscretions; with those who object to them from other motives we have ...

— Atlantic Monthly, Volume 2, Issue 10, August, 1858 • Various

... It was to her inconsequent nature and Bohemian instincts a renewal of the excitement of her old life. She was flattered and admired, and, while remaining true to her poet, was pleased to show him that she had not lost her power ...

— Jack - 1877 • Alphonse Daudet

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