bobo

/ˈboʊboʊ/

//ˈboʊboʊ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bobo" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bobo” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #28,469) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#28,469
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A materialistic person who affects an anti-materialistic persona.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bobo · bobo · English

bobo · rank #28,469 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,469
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bla

Nearest frequency peer: bla (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “bobo”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “bobo” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bobo vs boy
50% similar
bobo vs box
50% similar
bobo vs bro
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bobo
PropertyValue
Headwordbobo
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈboʊboʊ/
Letters4
Frequency rank#28,469
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “bobo”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).bobolands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “bla” (#28,468), “bovine” (#28,470), “braids” (#28,471). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bobo” is #28,469. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for bobo is neighbouring look-alikes ("boy", "box", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈboʊboʊ/. Frequency #28,469 among 4,121 “B” headwords. 3 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for bobo, with forms such as "bbobo", "bboo", and "bobbo". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "boy", "box", "bro", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Blend of bourgeois + bohemian, popularized by American journalist, commentator and editor David Brooks to describe the 1990s equivalent of the yuppie. The correct English form is bobo, spelled B-O-B-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    A materialistic person who affects an anti-materialistic persona.
  2. 2
    A self-styled bodyguard or groupie of the nouveau riche (such as a professional athlete or musician).
  3. 3
    An imitation of something, particularly a well known product, usually lower in quality than the original.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bobo appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The small things—an olive grove or a small chapel—take on greater meaning to a Bobo on vacation.
  2. Peruse the Paris papers these days and you'll notice an obsession with bobos: no, they're not a team of cheerleaders or a troupe of clowns, but rich, artsy types known as bourgeois bohemians, who are now pretty much the tip of Parisian tastemakers. So when friends who were recently staying in Saint Germain des Pres asked me where to go to people watch, I…

Etymology

Blend of bourgeois + bohemian, popularized by American journalist, commentator and editor David Brooks to describe the 1990s equivalent of the yuppie.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbobo
  • bboo
  • bobbo
  • obbo

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bobo - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

bbobo1bboo2bobbo1obbo2
Edit distance from "bobo"

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "bobo"?
"bobo" is spelled B-O-B-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈboʊboʊ/.
What does "bobo" mean?
As a noun, "bobo" means: A materialistic person who affects an anti-materialistic persona.
What words are commonly confused with "bobo"?
"bobo" is commonly confused with "boy", "box", "bro". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bobo"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bobo" is /ˈboʊboʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bobo"?
Blend of bourgeois + bohemian, popularized by American journalist, commentator and editor David Brooks to describe the 1990s equivalent of the yuppie. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bobo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

anil#28,451amit#28,449chit#28,490Cleo#28,495

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list