Dictionary

hamfat en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /ˈhamfat/
• (US) audio

Etymology

From ham + fat.

Meanings

1. (US, obsolete, offensive, slang) A black person.
2. (US, obsolete, qualifier:black slang) Something average; a mediocre thing or person, especially a jazz musician.
   • Around the poolroom I defended the guys I felt were my real brothers, the colored musicians who made music that sent me, not a lot of beat-up old hamfats who sang and played a commercial excuse for the real thing. 1946, Milton “Mezz” Mezzrow, Bernard Wolfe, “Quit Foolin’ with That Comb”, in Really the Blues, New York, N.Y.: Random House, book 1 (1899–1923: A Nothin’ but a Child), page 49:
3. (US, slang) A low-grade actor; a ham or hamfatter.

Forms