What does "pijo / pija" mean?

Posh, preppy — rich and showing it.

Country: 🇪🇸 Spain
Say it: PEE-ho
Register: Friends & informal

How it's actually used

Spain’s version of Mexico’s *fresa* or Argentina’s *cheto*: the accent, the brands, the neighbourhood. Used as a noun and an adjective — *un barrio muy pijo*, a very posh area. Mildly mocking, rarely vicious.

Examples

Habla como un pijo. He talks like a posh kid.
Es un bar bastante pijo. It’s a pretty upscale bar.

Where it comes from

Originally a crude word, then narrowed to mean upper-class affectation.

Before you say it

Teasing but not neutral. In Latin America *pija* is vulgar in several countries — a genuinely risky word to transplant.

Now actually use it out loud

Reading a definition isn't the same as saying it to someone. Lingo Kaiava is a voice tutor set to Spanish (Spain) Spanish — it uses pijo / pija the way locals do, corrects you in the moment, and never "fixes" the way real people actually talk into textbook Spanish (Spain) Spanish.