Dictionary

darkey en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈdɑːki/ (Received-Pronunciation)
• (Australia) audio
• /ˈdɑɹki/ (General-American)

Etymology

From dark + -ey.

Meanings

1. (dated, ethnic, offensive, slang, slur) A person with dark skin.
   • Sometimes we overhear others saying, "Them colored people were slaves" down in Tennessee. The children feel hurt when they hear such remarks; but I tell them it was no disgrace in Tennessee to belong to Colonel Anderson. Many darkeys would have been proud, as I used to be, to call you master. 1865 August 7, Jordan Anderson, "To My Old Master, Colonel P.H. Anderson", republished in the New York Daily Tribune
   • The windmill under the care of Mr. Kinney, a kind hearted old Englishman, was to me a source of infinite interest and pleasure. The old man always seemed pleased when he saw a troop of darkey little urchins, with their tow-linen shirts fluttering in the breeze, approaching to view and admire the whirling wings of his wondrous machine. 1855, Frederick Douglass, chapter 3, in My Bondage and My Freedom. […], New York; Auburn, N.Y.: Miller, Orton & Mulligan […], →OCLC:
2. (obsolete, slang) A dark lantern.
3. (Australia, New-Zealand, offensive) A luderick, blackfish, parore (Girella tricuspidata).

Forms

Coordinates

whitey

Relateds

blackie

Synonyms

BME · colored person · colored · minority · nonwhite · BIPOC · person of color

Translations (7)

fi mutiainen ((slang, offensive) a person with dark skin) · fi mutakuono ((slang, offensive) a person with dark skin) · pl czarny ((slang, offensive) a person with dark skin) · bg чернилка ((slang, offensive) a person with dark skin) · pl czarna ((slang, offensive) a person with dark skin) · sv svarting ((slang, offensive) a person with dark skin) · cs barevnej ((slang, offensive) a person with dark skin)