Bimbo - Meaning

Meaning

The first usage of the term bimbo in English was for an unintelligent male, although it now most commonly used to refer to a woman unless modified as male bimbo or himbo. For clarity, sometimes the explicitly female variant bimbette is used, which has also entered The American Heritage Dictionary. bimbette can be used to indicate a younger bimbo, as the suffix -ette signifies a smaller version.

In popular English, the term bimbo tends to have two similar and often overlapping connotations. The first refers to an attractive woman with poor intelligence or education, while the second refers to a woman with low sexual inhibitions and who often acts in a promiscuous manner. With the popularisation of cosmetic surgery (such as breast augmentation), a person who has undertaken such practices in order to increase the perceived sexual attractiveness can also be referred to as a bimbo.

Although the term with its current meaning has sometimes had negative connotations and sometimes jocular connotations, in recent years its pejorative qualities have lessened so "bimbo" is now often used as a more neutral, or even friendly, term. It has retained its meaning as indicating women who are attractive but sometimes perceived to be unintelligent or promiscuous, however in much media such as women's magazines and gossip magazines the term is not specifically used in a negative fashion.

In 2012, the Daily Mail reported that some research has suggested that women with low IQ - termed "bimbos" by the Mail - may seek to compensate for this by seeking more materially secure and stable spouses in a variant of Darwinian sexual selection. This behavior may be the root of the 'gold-digger" aspect of bimbo stereotypes.