bogan
/ˈboʊɡən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.55 in modern English
8
Scrabble Score
5
Letters
2
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
An unsophisticated person from a working class background.
Australian usage; New Zealand usage; Slang
noun
An Anglo-Celtic member of a lower socioeconomic group, stereotypically classified as wearing black jumpers or black concert T-shirts.
New Zealand usage; Derogatory; Slang
name
A local government area in New South Wales, Australia; in full, Bogan Shire.
Example Sentences
- "Bogans were Lockie's least favorite kind of people."
- "The Reservoir I grew up in was populated by menacing, toothless Torana-driving bogans, crushed menthol-smoking pensioners and toddlers who swore."
- "If you're coming in to cause trouble, don't bother […] bogan it up at home."
- "All around the shores of the narrow bogan crowded the beasts, watching with wide, fascinated eyes the flight and fall of these disastrous missiles."
- "Negative Stereotypes: Indians, natives, bogans, nates, […]"
- "Greg Quachegan, a teacher at Dennis Franklin Cromarty High School, was walking with his young daughters when someone yelled, “Bogans,” at them. He has no idea what it means, but it’s a slur aboriginal people hear often."
Etymology
Unknown. First appeared in Australia in the 1980s. Possibly in reference to supposedly unsophisticated people from remote outback places such as the Bogan River or Bogan Gate (cf. dubbo from Dubbo).
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: Ó Bogáin