also: プーたろう · ぷーたろう · ふうたろう · ぷうたろう
noun
unemployed person; drifter; vagrant
Colloquial and often mildly derogatory. It usually implies someone is out of work, idle, or drifting without a steady occupation, rather than a neutral administrative term for unemployment.
彼は大学を出てからしばらくプータローだった。
After graduating from university, he was unemployed for a while.
仕事も探さず、プータローみたいな生活をしている。
He is not even looking for work and is living like a drifter.
noun
day labourer; dockside day labourer
Only when written 風太郎
Rare, older or specialized use restricted to the spelling 風太郎. The gloss particularly points to day labourers working around the docks.
「風太郎」は、港で働く日雇い労働者を指す古い言い方として使われる。
風太郎 is used as an old term for a day labourer working at a port.
Mixed katakana-kanji spelling for the colloquial modern word.
Mixed hiragana-kanji spelling; informal and less standard-looking than プータロー.
Neutral term for being unemployed or jobless; プータロー is casual and can sound judgmental or teasing.
Refers to a person not in employment, education, or training; プータロー is looser and more colloquial, focusing on idleness or lack of steady work.
Clear modern descriptive term for a day labourer; 風太郎 is a rare older word, especially associated with dock work.
The historical derivation is uncertain. 太郎 is a common male-name element used in colloquial labels, while プー or ぷー is part of the established informal form; no loanword origin is specified.