HIMBO NOUN (PEOPLE AND SOCIETY)

In media slang, a young man whose main asset is good looks, but who lacks depth and intelligence; the male equivalent of a bimbo. Etymology: Punningly formed on bimbo, by replacing the first syllable with the rhyming syllable him (the accusative form of the masculine personal pronoun he). History and Usage: A journalistic creation of the late eighties which probably has less chance of surviving in the language than bimbo, but is given motivation by the fact that bimbo is now overwhelmingly applied to women. (Compare bimboy at bimbo.) Sex was commonplace, from a Melanie Griffith look-alike stuffed into her gown like salami in spandex to the macho himbo who strutted the Croisette wearing a 16-foot python like a stole around his shoulders. Washington Post 29 May 1988, section F, p. 1 The recent spate of kiss-and-tell memoirs by various bimbos and their male counterparts, himbos, throws even more doubt upon the matter. The Times 17 Oct. 1988, p. 21