Meanings
- CanadaUSA wandering homeless person, especially (historical) one illegally travelling by rail or (derogatory) a penniless, unemployed bum.
He’d heard the word hobo used for travelers, heard it was short for homeward bound, or homeless boy, or Hoboken having something to do with New Jersey.
2024, Tommy Orange, Wandering Stars, Harvill Secker, page 55 - A kind of large handbag.
Avoid bulky styles such as duffle sacks, buckets, doctors' satchels, and hobos.
1989, Susan Ludwig, Janice Steinberg, Petite Style, page 46
present singular third person hobos · participle present hoboing · participle past hoboed · past hoboed
- intransitiveperhaps pejorativeTo be a hobo, tramp, bum etc.
Joe idly hoboed through half the country till he realized hoboing never gets you anywhere in life.
Synonyms & antonyms
nouna worker who moves around and works temporarily in different places
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Unknown. Possibly a contraction of ho, boy or the dialectal English term hawbuck (“lout, clumsy fellow, country bumpkin”).
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Ancient Greek ἀλήτης
- ἀλήτης (alḗtēs)tramp, vagabond; bum
Bulgarian бездомник, скитник
- бездомник (bezdomnik)homeless person
- скитник (skitnik)tramp, vagabond; bum
- сезонен работник (sezonen rabotnik)migratory worker
Catalan rodamón
- rodamónhomeless person
Dutch dakloze, zwerver
- daklozehomeless person
- zwerverhomeless person
- vagebondhomeless person
- landloperhomeless person
- leeglopertramp, vagabond; bum
- vagebondtramp, vagabond; bum
Finnish kulkuri, pummi
- kulkurihomeless person
- pummihomeless person
- pummitramp, vagabond; bum
- siirtotyöläinenmigratory worker
French vagabond, clochard
- vagabondhomeless person
- clochardhomeless person
- clodohomeless person
- saisonniermigratory worker
German Obdachloser, Vagabund
- Obdachloserhomeless person
- Vagabundtramp, vagabond; bum
Irish fear siúil
- fear siúiltramp, vagabond; bum
Italian senzatetto, vagabondo
- senzatettohomeless person
- vagabondotramp, vagabond; bum
Japanese ルンペン
- ルンペン (runpen)tramp, vagabond; bum
Latin planus, errō
- planustramp, vagabond; bum
- errōtramp, vagabond; bum
Polish bezdomny, bezdomna
- bezdomnyhomeless person
- bezdomnahomeless person
- kloszardhomeless person
- tramptramp, vagabond; bum
- wagabundatramp, vagabond; bum
- włóczęgatramp, vagabond; bum
- robotnik sezonowymigratory worker
- robotnica sezonowamigratory worker
Portuguese mendigo, mendiga
- mendigohomeless person
- mendigahomeless person
- vagabundotramp, vagabond; bum
- vagabundatramp, vagabond; bum
- sazonalmigratory worker
Romanian vagabond, boschetar
- vagabondhomeless person
- boschetarhomeless person
- vagabondtramp, vagabond; bum
- vagabondătramp, vagabond; bum
- derbedeutramp, vagabond; bum
- hoinartramp, vagabond; bum
- sezoniermigratory worker
- sezonierămigratory worker
Russian бомж, бездо́мный
- бомж (bomž)homeless person
- бездо́мный (bezdómnyj)homeless person
- бродяга (brodjaga)tramp, vagabond; bum
Spanish vagabundo, atorrante
- vagabundohomeless person
- atorrantehomeless person
- torrantehomeless person
- bichicome (despective)homeless person
- vagabundotramp, vagabond; bum
- atorrantetramp, vagabond; bum
- torrantetramp, vagabond; bum
- guitóntramp, vagabond; bum
Swedish luffare, vagabond
- luffaretramp, vagabond; bum
- vagabondtramp, vagabond; bum
Tagalog bayabay
- bayabaytramp, vagabond; bum
Thai คนไร้บ้าน, คนจรจัด
- คนไร้บ้านhomeless person
- คนจรจัดhomeless person
- คนเร่ร่อนtramp, vagabond; bum
- คนพเนจรtramp, vagabond; bum
- คนจรจัดtramp, vagabond; bum
- แรงงานพลัดถิ่นmigratory worker
Turkish evsiz barksız
- evsiz barksızhomeless person
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with hobo
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
hobo. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hobo
“hobo.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hobo. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “hobo,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/hobo.
Source: hobo on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.